Prince of Souls
by kekkeigenkai95
Summary: An accidental sealing... and a amputated shinigami will turn the lives of those living in the elemental nations on its head. With three interchangeable doujutsu, the power to talk to the dead and a extra friendly fox taking residence in his head, how will Naruto face the trials of being a ninja in the Elemental Nations? AU!
1. The immortals Meet

**A.N.** This is my first story. Reviews will be appreciated and welcomed.

The Naruto in this story looks obviously overpowered when compared with an average nin, but what is seen is simply the potential, not ability. Therefore, Naruto has the potential to overpower entire nations, but he is not quite there yet. Be warned, Naruto will have access to many esoteric abilities from his family, which will be the backbone of his fighting style. This means that conventional Jutsu will be rarely, if ever, used by the main character.

_Chapter 1 : The Immortals Meet_

Fire.

This was all he could see, spreading throughout his beloved village in great gouts of flame, heat and smoke. At any other time, he would have been the first to rush to the scene, like he saw countless chunin doing before him. But today, he was numb.

He was the Yondaime Hokage, Konoha's Yellow Flash, Veteran of the Third Great Shinobi War, and Head of the defunct Namikaze Clan. He was the husband of the Bloody Habanero, the Red Reaper, the Princess of Whirlpool, the Head of the defunct Uzumaki Clan, and the second Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Kushina. He was the father of Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, Heir of the Uzumaki and Namikaze Clans, a small beautiful baby of 3 hours. And in less than an hour he was going to die by his own hand.

It was funny in a way. He had survived the fire that had claimed his parents when he was only 5 years old. He had lived through the perils of the Third War, while shinobi fell like flies around him. He had lived unscathed while his teams fell apart around him. Akimichi Akihiro, dead protecting their retreat from pursuing kusa nin from the Shitai bridge when they were chunin. Uchiha Mikoto, delegated to housewife by that despicable excuse of a man, Fugaku. Uchiha Obito, dead, crushed under boulders in the first mission that he didn't oversee. Nohara Rin, killed by her own teammate in a mercy killing after being forcibly made a jinchuuriki time bomb. Hatake Kakashi, his personal apprentice, who was driven suicidal at the loss of his teammates, joining the ANBU hoping for an honourable death.

He had weathered all these tragedies, as an aspiring Hokage, then as a Hokage, should. And after all that, he was going to die via committing suicide by Death God, as dictated by a megalomaniac and his overgrown pet fox. If it wasn't so sad, he would laugh.

He had just come back from disabling the summoning contract of the fox, and recovering his wife from the kidnapper. Now all that remained was to seal the demon into his infant son, ensuring his own death in the process.

…

…

…

The Shinigami, summoned to seal a demon in his son let out an unholy screech, and dispersed, sealing complete. As he stood stapled to his wife's dying body by a rapidly fading chakra claw, looking over her shoulder at his child that was burdened before his time, Minato Namikaze wondered where he had gone wrong. He had said his goodbyes, and watched his wife close her beautiful violet eyes for the last time. Therefore as he felt the last of his energy drain into the primordial entity he had summoned, he wondered. What would his son be like? Would he be a shinobi? Would he ever access the power of the beast within him?

Therefore he looked at his baby boy, looking at him with those eyes that looked so like his, and whispered, " Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, my son, the Child of Prophecy; I leave the world in your care. I won't say sorry for the burden I have placed on you, but remember this. I lived for my convictions, and I died for them. As my son this is the legacy I leave for you; no matter what you do, follow your convictions, not your raw emotion. You are the nexus of this world, and whether you guide the world or cleanse it; know that your parents will always love you."

Saying this, one of the strongest men in the world, looked at the baby in the platform, and his wife in his arms. He then looked at the night sky illuminated with the fires from Konoha, smiled, and letting his consciousness fade, fell back and crumpled to the ground, dead. At the same time, a group of ANBU lead by the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived at the scene to see their leader fall back dragging his wife with him, with blood pouring out of their entangled bodies. The grisly tableau was completed by the crying baby, lying on an ornate platform with an elaborate design around his navel.

With the Hokage dead, and the new arrivals rushing to him, no one noticed as the baby's eyes transformed from their bright blue to red with black accents, to a metallic purple, to red with slit pupils, and finally to a pure deep black before going back to the original blue.

…

…

…

Naruto Uzumaki, was small, as 4 year olds are wont to be, unnaturally pale, with sunny blond hair and cerulean blue eyes. He was quiet, antisocial, and not prone to showing emotions. Therefore he was definitely _not_ looking as terrified as felt as he fled up the 21st Street at 2 AM, followed by a mob of villagers.

This was not the first time that the ever inquisitive boy had escaped the orphanage to go exploring the streets of Konoha, but it was the first time that the villagers had caught sight of him in the attempt. He, looking at the faces of the mob and their weapons, was quickly coming to the conclusion that it was not in his best interests to get caught by the villagers that were chasing him through the streets. However, just as he was coming to this conclusion, he suddenly found himself in a cul-de-sac in the 12th District, an area on the outskirts of Konoha, where the ANBU did not patrol. Rather, this was the responsibility of the Uchiha Police Force, which he knew from experience would rather see him dead than alive.

He was knocked out of his contemplation when a large, meaty fist hit his head with such force that he spun around collapsed against one of the numerous 7 foot earthen walls that were found in this district of Konoha.

"That'll teach the demon to run from us!" shouted a burly man who was responsible for the punch, before he was hit on the head by the man next to him.

"Are you mad Osamu? You're going to bring the police here!"

Osamu simply smirked. "You worry too much, Hisashi!"

"I met Ryuu on the way here, you know my ex-teammate?"

The first man, Hisashi, looked confused. "The Uchiha? Yeah, so what?"

"He works in the police now. The Uchiha are all going to be _subduing a riot_ in the 1st District", said Osamu, smirking at the form of the boy who was trying to crawl onto his feet. His foot lashed out, and with a snap of broken bone, the boy fell again.

Even over the agony of what felt like a couple of ribs breaking, Naruto kept hearing the conversation over and over in his mind. He felt numb. He knew that the Uchiha hated him, they had arrested him for vagrancy enough. But this had gone beyond harassment. They were basically throwing him to the wolves. No, not even he could forgive that.

Now, until today, Naruto had been, while aloof, not a person to bear a grudge. If he did, he would be vowing the deaths of the entire village in short order. But, looking as the mob closed on him with their weapons, the boy curled up into a ball on the ground held onto one thought. 'If I survive this, the Uchiha are going to pay!'

…

…

…

He was wet. That was the first thought of Uzumaki Naruto as he woke up. He opened his eyes and noticed that he was in a sewer of some kind. The second was that if he could think, he must be alive.

"Great, not only did they try to kill me, they had to dump me in a freaking SEWER!"

As the yell reverberated on the stone cave-like walls of the sewer, Naruto finally decided to look around. Then promptly let out a scream, which joined his earlier yell in echoing around the sewer.

The reason for his yell was quite simple. A scant few feet in front of him, lying on its belly and floating in the water, was his body. It was mangled, with new wounds appearing as if invisible knives were cutting into it. The older wounds were continuously closing with flashes of reddish, bubbling chakra. It was distinctly creepy, like watching a torture session with invisible torturers. Slowly, Naruto knelt beside his clone that looked near death, and tried to wake him up.

"Hey you! Wake u… AHHHHHH!"

Suddenly the whole world was spinning, and then he was in pain. He opened one blood crusted eye just to see the outline of an enormous man plunging a kunai straight at it. He let out a gurgle, and then the pain made itself felt. He felt his back arching; a scream tore itself from his throat, and awareness left him once more.

…

…

…

Drip.

Drip.

This time, it was the sound of continuously dripping water that woke Naruto from his unconsciousness. As he woke up, Naruto could not help the sense of déjà vu that gripped him. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself back in the odd sewer. There was even his body in the water, but now it was on its back, with the strange red chakra stitching together the left eye and most of his face.

'Hmm', he pondered, 'that wound looks just like the one….'

"Holy shit!"

In a sudden panic, Naruto leapt backwards, tripping and landing in the tepid water in the process, as he stared in wide eyed shock at the figure in the water. Then, getting over his shock and disorientation, he started examining the body with detached interest.

'I remember getting cut across the thigh in the same spot as that gash, and the stab wound in the face is in the same spot that the man stabbed me in', noticed Naruto. "How odd."

'I don't have any of the wounds here, but I clearly got them', he pondered. 'The only way this body has the wounds and I don't is that it merely shows the state of my body, in which case they won't show on my current body as this is just how I think of myself. That means that this body is also a mere mental construct, so this place would be…'

"So this is my mindscape, huh?"

**"****Yes, and it took you long enough to come here, Godling"**

The voice was calm yet turbulent, melodic and yet monotonous, rough yet soft; it sent shivers down his spine and reverberated in the sewer, and the sheer paradox of its overtones made his body freeze in the ingrained instinct to escape the predator's notice. Still, steeling himself he slowly turned to the source of the unexpected voice.

There, framing what looked like an entrance to a cave was an unnatural figure. Huge, it blocked the whole entrance with its body, was more than 50 stories tall. The figure was vulpine, with 9 enormous appendages flaring out behind it, with their pointed tips facing him. In the dark, the figure seemed to have an inner, blood red glow. It looked terrifying.

Then Naruto looked down, at his body that was lying on the ground behind him. The red chakra that had baffled him earlier seemed to originate from this massive creature, bleeding off into a thread like structure that formed from one 4 foot tall claw leading to the navel of the prone body.

"Excuse me, but who are you and what are you doing here?"

**"****He, He… You are truly amusing, Godling!", **boomed the unnatural voice **"Know not you the tale of the demon sealed in your gut?"**

"D-Demon? Wait… You're sealed in me!"

**"****Of course, little Godling, why else would I keep you alive when any mortal would have been dead 10 times over?"**

"How does that work anyway? I mean you're a lot bigger than me, or are you smaller on the outside? Did they chop you into small pieces and feed you to me? Did they use a ninjutsu to shrink you? Did they-"

A sweatdrop began to form on the giant figure's head.** "Enough !"**

"-Did they flatten you with a roller and paste you on my tummy? Did they curl you into a ball and slip you in my ramen? Cause if anybody touched my ramen…"

**"****I did ****_not_**** touch your ramen!"** The figure roared, continuing in an undertone **"Disgusting salty slop that it is"**

"Oh. As long as you didn't touch the ramen. And don't insult the ramen gods!"

**"****There are no ramen gods… "**The demon interjected.

"Silence, infidel! The ramen gods will hear you!" Naruto took a deep breath, trying to stop himself from starting a crusade to convert this poor heretic to the faith of the compassionate, all powerful ramen. All Hail Ramen!

"Well then, if we are going to be roommates, we should introduce ourselves, shouldn't we?"

The sweatdrop continued to grow as Naruto continued to randomly change subjects.

"… And Miso ramen is the best for the morning, oh and I'm Uzumaki Naruto, super genius, ramen connoisseur, and master ninja! What's your name?"

**'****Well he's not lacking energy, that's for sure'**, thought the fox wryly, before he caught the question. **'Hmm. Should I go all angry demon lord… nah. What to do, what to do… I know, I'll do that cool Kabuki dance act like that white haired guy did!'**

Visibly perking up, it began to skip a little on its paws, causing tremors to travel across the sewer.

Then it opened its wide snout, showing of huge, pearly canines, before it burst into a song and dance routine.

**"****I'm the Scourge of the Mountains,**

**The Walking Disaster,**

**If ever I'm around,**

**The world needs a plaster,**

**I'm the Red Fang of Fury,**

**The undoubted best,**

**My food calls me Kyuubi,**

**But I'm Kurama to the rest!"**

Finishing off the last verse, the newly named Kurama struck a pose, with one paw pointing at itself and its huge head pointing upwards.

Naruto sweatdropped.

"Excuse me, Kurama-san, are you sure you're okay?"

Naruto could not be sure because of the dim lighting, but to him, it looked like the giant fox was _sulking._

**"****Nobody said that when that toad freak did it." *humph***

He shook his head to rid himself of stray thoughts. "I thought you were dead. The Yondaime killed you!" suddenly looking at the fox out of the corner of the eye, his eyes widened and he scrambled back in a hurry. "A-are you a g-g-ghost?"

Kurama's eye twitched.** 'He faces me without fear but he's afraid of ghosts? "**

Then Kurama caught onto his own last thought. "**The Prince of Souls is afraid of ghosts! Oh this is going to be fun'**

**"****Godling, I am immortal. Beings like me cannot be killed." **The fox looked at the boy along its long snout, condescendingly. **"Surely you knew that?"**

**"****I am primordial, and a fragmental deity by way of the Juubi, just like you are a fragmental deity by way of the Shinigami. What you have to understand, Godling, is that we are conceptual beings, you and I. I was there in a form when the world started, and I shall be there when the world ends!"**

"Wow", Naruto exhaled, enthralled with the tale, when he processed the rest of the sentence. "Wait, WHAT? What do you mean, you and me? What about the Shinigami? And why do you keep calling me Godling?"

**"****Caught onto that, did you? Well you are a fellow deity, and an extremely young one, Oh great Prince of Souls"**, exclaimed the fox, grinning toothily all the while. **"It would be improper otherwise, wouldn't it?"**

"What do you mean…? I mean… I'm not… You're joking, aren't you?"

**"****I see you are ignorant of the great heritage you are now a part of. Hmm. What to do, indeed?"**

"Ne Kurama, why did you call me Prince of Souls?

**"****Well, Godling, on the day that I was sealed in you by the Shinigami, something went wrong with the process. You apparently did not like Him sealing you in me, so in your own mindscape, where any being is the ultimate, you overpowered Him. When He escaped, He left about half of His power inside you, sealed alongside me in the ****_Shiki Fujin _****(Dead Demon Consuming Seal)."**

**"****I see that I shall have to teach you. But before that, you must unlock your powers. And they are vast indeed."** The fox seemed ready to continue, but it was interrupted by an excitable nearly 4 year old.

"Powers? I knew I was awesome! Can I shoot death rays from my eyes? Can I fly? Can I make everyone do as I say? Can I?"

**"****Calm down, little Godling. To understand what your powers are, we should go back to their origins."**

**"****You have many powers, Godling. You are an amalgamation of human powers, demonic powers and divine ones."**

**"****The first of your powers are the doujutsu, which are powers that they all have an identifying mark in the eyes. Now remember, this doesn't mean that the powers are based in the eye, just that they are the focal point of the power."**

"Ne, ne, is that swirly eye that those bastard Uchiha have…"

**"****Yes, that is one doujutsu"**,Kurama sighed, and mumbled under its breath **"Ungrateful whelps they are. Imprisoned by my own gift… Nibi will never let me hear the end of it…"**

**"****But that is for later. Come now, we must stop this now"**, Kurama commanded, snapping out of his stupor to gesture at the body at the boy's feet. It was now sporting blunt tears across the torso, and the guts were starting to spill out. **"Sooner or later they're going to chop off pieces of your body, and regenerating body parts when your body is already flushed with my chakra is not a good thing."**

**"****Stand back, I'll take care of this for now." **Kurama stated, holding one paw over the body and lightly touching the body with its pad. Then he seemed to slump, his eyes clouded.

"Man, I wish I could see what's going on", muttered Naruto, staring at the currently comatose fox with wonder. Therefore he let out a surprised yelp when a mirror appeared in midair near him and Kurama's voice echoed from the walls.

**"****Use That!"**

Naruto stared at the mirror with wonder; it seemed to show the world with his eyes.

…

…

…

Kurama was having the time of his life. Finally, he was going to get some payback for the behavior towards his container, and fellow immortal. When he came to in the body of Naruto, the villagers had apparently decided that carving him like a Christmas turkey was not enough, as they were lighting a pyre. Kurama grinned; fire was by far his favourite element!

As the villagers were tending to the fire, Kurama finished healing the mangled body that was nailed to the wall and pushed himself away, standing on his feet. Then, a far too wide grin splitting his face, he looked at the villagers and said **"Boo".**

The villagers were ecstatic. They had finally caught the demon that threatened their existence daily, and it was finally going to die; in the same element that the monster was born from even! The ANBU weren't nearby to stop them, the Uchiha were actively helping them, and the old Hokage wouldn't even know until the demon was dead. By tomorrow they would be heroes in the village. Then they heard it; a whisper, hardly audible over the breeze, but carrying such a promise of violence that they felt faint. The power, bearing upon them, was immense. It was as if the gods had called judgment, and like a wounded gazelle in the sight of a lion, they could only hope for clemency from this overwhelming power.

When the bravest of the villagers turned to the source of the gigantic killing intent, what they saw terrified them even further. A small child, with stakes still driven through its hands and sticking out of the palms, clad in rags that had, until today, been clothes. A child with a torn open abdomen, bits of intestine threatening to fall out, visibly sealing itself shut. A child with thick whisker-like markings across both cheeks, with an obvious scar through one eye that was rapidly fading into nothingness. A child with glaring, crimson eyes that gave the impression that they dissected your soul, and judged you unworthy. This was not a child.

The figure was wreathed in a caustic looking, crimson, bubbly chakra. Its surroundings were dying, trees turning yellow, grass drying. Above its head a silhouette of a fox with many tails was visible, each tail moving independently of the others in a hypnotic movement, mesmerizing the observer.

It was quick. One moment, they were staring in horror at the hellish apparition before them, and in the next, all except one of them were caught in the flames of their own bonfire, the flames now coloured an ethereal blue.

Idly observing the villagers burning screams, Kurama turned his attention to the sole villager unharmed by the flames that were roasting the others alive.

**"****Hello, mortal. Osamu, was it? I am the Kyuubi, and I would say nice to meet you, but it's not, ne?"**

Osamu merely looked back at his monster from hell that had appeared before him. The air was filled with the smell of burning flesh, and the dying screeches of humans burning to death. A particularly loud shriek made him flinch, and the monster in front of him looked _amused_.

**"****Ah, yes, the barbeque is coming along nicely, isn't it?" **Kurama enquired sarcastically, inwardly quite pleased at the look of utter terror on the man's features.

**"****Know this, you pitiful creature. The only reason I intervened was that young Naruto is not quite ready to ascend yet, and a forced ascension leads to quite uncontrollable powers, as I'm sure you understand?"** Kurama stated, mockingly.

"Y-you m-m-monster", Osamu accused, still in shock, staring between the burning corpses of his co-conspirators and the demented creature in front of him.

**"****Let me explain it so that even a fool like you can understand."** Kurama growled. **"If I had not intervened, Naruto's divine powers would be awakened now, and the whole of Konoha would be home to corpses. You have no idea of the folly you almost committed, do you?"**

**"****Now I would personally prefer that scenario, but as he still entertains some form of attachment to the village…"**

Then It, for no such monster could be a He, gave him a fanged grin through bloody teeth, with the fox silhouette above it echoing it eerily. Then one of the tails became corporeal, with stiff, needle like fur tapering to a point. The tail drew back, and started smoking, with a fiery aura surrounding it, and halted. Then the demon looked him in the eye, and growled **"Today, your village survived only because of my compassion and his love. Something to think about in the afterlife."** Then the tail flashed forward.

As he watched the tail approach his chest, tear through the skin and muscle and pierce his heart, Osamu couldn't help but wonder; was this what an ant felt like, when facing a human?

As the last of the mob died, Kurama scoffed, and manipulating the fire in the half built pyre, burnt the bodies in a flash of heat and light, leaving behind only a fine ash that scattered in the wind.

Afterwards, Kurama, yet again using his fire manipulation ability seemingly created a wall of flame, and walking through it, emerged from the naked candle flame in Naruto's dorm in the orphanage. Later, when the shock of the immediate events had subsided, Naruto would wonder how much ability in fire manipulation it would take to fulfill such a task, seemingly effortlessly. Currently, he was too overwhelmed to think of anything other than the oblivion of sleep; maybe this mess would make sense in the morning?


	2. Divine History

**A.N.**This second installment of the Prince of Souls deals with the backgrounds of the divine beings that will appear in the story, and their connections to Naruto. Since the Naruto universe is slightly based on Shinto Mythology, the divine beings in this story have been loosely based on Shinto gods. I apologize to anyone discomfited by the portrayal of these gods within the story.

To answer some questions:

To Thor94 : Naruto will definitely meet other gods in the course of the story. As to the query about pairings, all I can say as of now is that Naruto will not be paired with any mortal.

_Disclaimer : Naruto, and its characters, belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Chapter 2 : Divine History, a Tableau of Naruto's Powers_

'Oh! Man, that was some dream', thought Naruto, as he got up on the day after the mobbing. 'As if I had that much luck!'

He had just traipsed into the bathroom to begin his early morning rituals when he heard an amused voice in his head. **"Good morning, Godling. Why so pessimistic in the morning?"**

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. "Who said that?"

A couple of kids lounging in the dorm looked up. One of them, a relatively burly 10 year old, saw who asked and sneered at him. "No one talks to you, loony! Go away!"

"As if I was going to talk to an idiot anyway… Bloody sheep, one of these days…" Grumbling under his breath, Naruto turned away. Let it never be said that Uzumaki Naruto was a morning person.

**"****Hey kit, don't say you forgot me already? It's me, Kurama! I'm in your head, remember?" **Kurama asked, amused at the boy.

Naruto shrieked. Ignoring the slightly alarmed looks thrown his way, he murmured "Kurama, you're real?"

**"****Real as an entity in your head can be, Godling. By the way, you should really stop speaking aloud." **He smirked. **"Or others might start thinking you're odder than Shukaku."**

'Odder than who? Know what, I don't want to know. I really don't', thought Naruto irritably, projecting annoyance at the smug fox squatting in his mind. It really was too early for all this.

'When are you going to teach me like you promised, anyway?'

An hour later, he was trying to look as aloof as usual as he slowly wandered out of the orphanage, towards the hedge that separated the yard from the forests that surrounded Konoha. However, his mind was in overdrive. If what happened in the alley yesterday was real… the possibilities were endless. Acting naturally, he ducked out of sight of the children who were watching him, suspicion in their eyes, and leapt into the hedge.

Exiting the hedge, he wandered into the forest. The caretakers never bothered him when he went off exploring the forest. 'Probably hoping that I get eaten', thought Naruto, uncharacteristically bitter as memories of last night's attempt at his life were still in the forefront of his mind. Finally arriving at his destination, a copse in the woods that was hidden from prying eyes, Naruto settled in a meditative pose he had once seen an old man sit in, closed his eyes and mentally called Kurama. 'Hey Kurama, how do I get there?'

After half a minute of silence, which Naruto spent getting increasingly fidgety and annoyed, **'So *Yawn* you're asking me the directions *Yawn* to get into your own mind, is it?'**

Naruto ignored the tick that was pulsing on his forehead. 'Will you just tell me how to get in?'

**'****Fine, Fine. Just to inform you though, I'm going to hold this over your head forever. You know that, don't you?' **The toothy grin that Kurama was sporting just got Naruto even more worked up, until…

"Huh! How can I see his grin when he's inside my mind?" The only reply he got were the sounds of the birds disturbed by his exclamation, and yet another toothy grin from Kurama.

"Fine, just… fine. Don't tell me… just… get me there."

When Naruto _finally _managed to get into his mindscape (_You just have to want to come here)_, he found the usual sewer like environment, with his body also shown, this time seated in a meditative posture. The sewer was still ankle deep in water, and in front of him was Kurama… in a graduation cap? He just shook his head; even after less than 12 hours since meeting him, Naruto was beginning to figure out that the giant fox was quite insane.

"Uh, Kurama, why are you wearing a graduation cap?"

**"****It's Kurama-sensei to you while I'm teaching." **Kurama paused for a moment, puffing out his chest impressively. **"I'm going to start teaching you how to use your divine powers."**

Naruto simply stared at him, mouth gaping.

**"****Hey kit, no spacing out when class is in session!"**

"Sorry." Naruto shook himself to get rid of his shock; he had not expected the fox to be _that_ eager to teach him. The tussle to simply access his mindscape had only heightened the idea that he would have to cajole, trick, beg for any scrap of information he wanted. Now, faced with someone _eager_ to teach him (the fox was looking almost as enthused as he was!), he did the only thing he could at the moment.

He bowed to the bewildered fox. "Arigato, Kurama-sensei!"

The fox, seemingly getting over the embarrassment (_can_ a giant fox get embarrassed?) just puffed up his chest even more. **"Yeah, yeah. You can worship my greatness later, kit. Come now, to the classroom!"**

Pulling Naruto onto one paw with another, Kurama traversed the giant hallways of Naruto's mindscape, Naruto hanging on for dear life on a strand of fur in one paw. Before long, they came to a room with a big imposing wooden door. Pushing the door open with one enormous paw, Kurama strode forwards into a well-lit cavern with shelves full of scrolls and huge library styled tables. Then, before his eyes, Kurama shrunk until he was the size of a common house cat.

Naruto just looked at the rapidly shrinking fox incredulously. "You mean you could shrink yourself ALL THIS TIME?"

Kurama simply jumped onto one of the tables and settled down, snout resting on its paws. It yawned. Naruto's eyebrow twitched. It idly scratched its ear. The eyebrow twitched even more violently.

The table suddenly cracked under the force of a pair of palms slammed into it. Kurama jumped, looking up and coming face to snout with Naruto, who was looking incensed. "Answer the question, damn it!"

The fox looked at the incensed 4 year old, uninterested. He deadpanned. **"I forgot the question."**

Then the air grew alive with malice, a pressure descending on the room. **"And Godling****_, never_**** talk to me that way again. Understood?" **

Cowed, Naruto nodded fearfully. In an instant, the pressure disappeared; leaving Naruto slumped in his chair, gasping for breath.

**"****Now that we've established our roles in this exercise, we'll get to what I'm going to teach you." **Kurama was once again acting like nothing had happened, with even the graduate cap back on his head.

"You mean all that was growling… a test?" asked Naruto, bewildered by the sudden change.

**"****In one word, yes. Now, until you're 11 years old, that is the year of your graduation from the ninja academy, you are going to be actively under my teaching regime. You are going to activate all your powers intentionally away from life threatening situations. You're going to have your first kill in controlled conditions under my tutelage. You are going to learn your human, divine, and demonic powers. By the time I'm finished with you, you will, theoretically at least, be able to hold off a low S-Class ninja indefinitely, using only your special powers. But, during this same time period, I own you. I tell you not to fight, you do not fight. I tell you not to use a specific power, ****_you do not use it. _****Is this clear?"**

So started the studies of Uzumaki Naruto. Every morning, Naruto would wake up, rush through the morning rituals, and have a quick breakfast before sneaking off to the copse to start his lessons. Naruto found Kurama an attentive teacher and a meticulous one, not starting a new lesson until he could answer any question based on the subject matter. For the first three months, they studied the history of the elemental nations and the primary divine and demonic entities present.

By the end of the time period, Naruto was able to, successfully, name all the active divine entities and demonic entities in the elemental countries along with their domains. Now that was an interesting lesson, reminisced Naruto, thinking of the explanation Kurama had given on the 'domains' of divine and demonic entities.

_FLASHBACK_

"Kurama, what does this mean, domains of the Yami?" Naruto asked, peering at the now horse sized fox lazing on the floor of the classroom.

**"****I was wondering when you were going to ask that. Put that scroll away, you are going to want give this your complete attention."**

Clearing his throat, Kurama sat up and adopted a rare serious expression, before starting to speak. **"Now Naruto, can you remember what I called our kind on the day that I met you for the first time?"**

"Uhhh… You called us fragmental deities… and conceptual beings!"

**"****Good, you were listening. Now we are called conceptual beings because we are not just gifted with powers in a certain area; we represent it in its fullest sense. These are the areas that the entity in question can manipulate with impunity, unrestrictedly."**

**"****When it comes to fragmental deities, which are beings containing parts of a divine or demonic entity's power, they get domains that are parts of the parent entity's own domain. This is why, when the Juubi split into 9 beings, its domain got split too. The domain of the Juubi was negative emotion and elements; Shukaku got insanity, Matatabi got lust, Isobu got sloth, etc. I got hatred. As for elements of course, there was a much less equal split; I have an affinity to every element, in varying amounts, though my favourite is fire."**

**"****The shinigami being an entity with the domain of death and decay, the split that happened gave you the domain of death. This means that you have control over death itself in an immediate sense, and all dead souls have to answer to you. This also means that you will, in the future, have to work with the Izanami (Goddess of Creation and Death), as all beings that have reached the underworld are her domain."**

_END FLASHBACK_

As he brushed his teeth, Naruto was mentally cheering his head off. Kurama had promised to teach him about his powers after the 'History Phase' and 'Chakra Contact Phase' of his education was over. Now that he was able to correctly name all the gods, demons and humans that took part in the shinju war that took place 1000 years ago, and could draw up his chakra at will, Kurama had declared that he was going to unlock his _Sharingan_ today. As the most human of his bloodline abilities, and the most useful at this stage, it had been decided that it would be the first ability to be unlocked.

Finally finished with breakfast, Naruto slipped off as usual, to his training ground of choice, the hidden copse in the woods. By now, Naruto's new schedule was known to everybody in the orphanage and contrary to his fears it had not caused a negative reaction; the demon brat leaving civilization for the day was considered a blessing by everyone involved. Indeed, he had heard one of the caretakers whispering to another, in a not so quiet voice, that the demon 'had finally learnt that it was not wanted among civilized people'. Therefore when he entered the forest after breakfast, nobody considered it in any way odd.

As soon as he entered his mindscape, Naruto was excited beyond imagining. Kurama had managed to curb some of that restless behavior with 3 months of endless studying, but the excitable boy was never below the surface. When he ran into the classroom, as he called the chamber they studied in, he found that Kurama was already waiting for him, today about the size of a tiger. Though he never again quite reached the 50 stories high monstrous size from before, he had realized long ago that it was a pastime of Kurama to change his size.

When he reached Kurama, the fox merely gave him a look, and started walking. That meant that he was quite concerned; Naruto had had ample time to identify Kurama's mannerisms.

"So Kurama, how are we going to do this?"

**"****That you will, regrettably, have to figure out on your own. Remember, these powers, even the lowest of them, do not appear without cost. For an Uchiha to reach the level of the ****_Sharingan_**** that you are going to obtain, they would have to experience a near death situation and then grieve over killing your best friend, in that order and perhaps multiple times."**

"What!" Naruto exclaimed, staring, shocked, at Kurama.

**"****Don't worry; those tributes are waivered as far as you're concerned; after all, if the one who made the ****_Sharingan _****can't get you a waiver, who can?"**

Jaw dropping even further at that revelation, Naruto stopped and stared at Kurama. "You _created _the _Sharingan_?"

Kurama looked over the shoulder at him with an undecipherable expression on his face, and sighed. **"Yes, to my eternal shame."**

He sighed again.** "Come, little Godling. I will tell you how the ****_Sharingan _****came to be, and the reason for my reticence to allow you to use it." **He looked at Naruto and quietly murmured.** "In fact sometimes I wish I didn't give it to you at all."**

"What! Why would you say that? I mean, the swirly eyes look kind of scary, but I heard that they can see into the future!"

**"****And they can, to a certain extent. The problem is that the ****_Sharingan_**** is a parasitic bloodline in that it consumes something of the user in order to function."**

"What, do you mean it'll eat me?"

Kurama stared at Naruto. **"I didn't say that it eats, Naruto. It simply needs something to function in the same way that a candle needs wax, or a jutsu needs chakra, or a summoning needs blood. For the ****_Sharingan _****however, the fuel is hatred. Remember when I said I designed it? Obviously I had to work in my domain; simple creation is Izanagi's realm. However, since it works with hatred and fire, both which are volatile and hard to control,it makes the users prone to psychotic breaks, random insanity, and causes a lack of emotions. This is why I decided to let you unlock it so early; it gives me ample time to train you in countering its effects. Of course the ****_Rinnegan _****counters its effects, but it is unclear to what extent. This is why you will have to work extra hard these coming months."**

Naruto opened his mouth to ask what he meant by that, he was already studying 14 hours a day! But before the question left his mouth, they arrived at their destination, and his jaw fell open. He seemed to be doing that a lot today, he wondered idly, as he stared at the mammoth structure in front of him. Like all structures in his mindscape, this building within a building was also huge. However that is where the similarities ended.

The building was built on an elevated platform inside an enormous cavern, so high that the ceiling was out of sight, and as wide as the colosseum. The inner building was made of some sort of golden crystal that shone with an inner light. Through the open doorway you could see a giant hallway. Naruto slowly entered the door, idly noting that Kurama kept a tail in contact with his wrist when crossing the doorway, and stared. The walls were all of the same golden crystal, and the walls were adorned with countless engravings of wars, sickness and other forms of death. The floors were obsidian, polished to a mirror shine.

**"****Come, the room is this way", **Kurama called out, gesturing to an open door at the end of the hallway.

"Kurama, just what is this place?"

**"****This is a core of your soul, so to speak, when stripped of all the emotions and hurt it is buried under"**

Naruto was struck speechless at the answer. Wordlessly nodding, he quietly made his way to the door Kurama pointed at.

Beyond the door was a triangular room. It was completely devoid of furniture or the murals that adorned the hall, but it had a strange arrangement of pillars jutting out from the floor. The outermost set was a group of three, each facing one wall. The one facing him was a simple three sided pillar made of a form of pink crystal, while the one on the left was in the shape of a plant and made of old, gnarled wood, and the one on the right appeared to be fox tail made out of a dark red stone. Beyond the three pillars stood a fence made of light blue metallic chains, each ending with a spiked tip. And in the centre of the room, encircled by the fence, stood a huge statue of a pair of hands entwining upon themselves in a helix, with the hands extended to the ceiling. It was made of the same obsidian as the rest of the floor; in fact it seemed to sprout from it without any clear boundary.

Naruto's eyes took in the intricate carvings on the outer pillars, strange hieroglyphs and script that seemed to be not of human origin, surrounding and winding around intricate carvings. In the pink pillar Naruto could see the visage of Kurama, in all its glory at the base, with winding lines of humans in various postures, usually with fire symbols surrounding them. The wooden pillar was filled with carvings of a strange tree, and people with ripple patterned eyes. The stone pillar showed carvings of gatherings of foxes arranged in what looked like a council, facing a young Kurama below them, and pictures of Kurama in the act of what looked like blowing smoke into their eyes. All the carvings were coloured a pitch black, making them stand out starkly.

Kurama pointed out the strange structures and smirked. **"Each one of those structures represents one power you have blocked within you. Now, we can't unblock all of these powers at once; that would overload your body and let me tell you, regenerating from total body destruction is not fun, especially when you have not used your powers before."**

Kurama pointed one of the outer pillars, the pink symmetrical one.** "My greatest creation, the ****_Sharingan_****," **spoke the fox; its gaze riveted on the fire breathing humans carved onto the pillar with... regret? **"The youngest of what humans call the 3 three great doujutsu, and the second most powerful."** Kurama had a pensive look in his eyes as he explained the doujutsu's abilities. **"It grants perception, and a degree of foresight. However its main power lies in its potent mind manipulation powers, and its abilities to alter the dimension of Space-Time."**

Kurama then pointed to the wooden pillar, shaped like a tree. **"The greatest of the doujutsu, the ****_Rinnegan_****. The oldest of the doujutsu, it was granted by Izanagi (God of Creation and Life) and Izanami (Goddess of Creation and Death) as a response to prayers to save mankind from the Juubi, which was wreaking destruction upon mankind at that time. It is also the first joint effort of the Gods after their rather public fallout, though they just fell out even more as a result of its making. It is said, and you have to understand that it is older than I am, that it was granted in the form of an edible fruit in a divine tree grown overnight in the garden of the princess Ootsutsuki Kaguya. The princess, who was pregnant at the time, gave birth to Ootsutsuki Hagoromo, who is known as the Sage of the Six Paths, the first human to be born with a god's blessing, let alone two. Humans were just beginning to recognize methods of utilizing chakra at the time, and when Hagoromo went head to head with the Juubi and defeated it, he was regarded as a god among men. He is the ancestor of the Senju, Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Hyuuga clans. All the members of all these clans carry the potential to wield a ****_Rinnegan_****, but the bloodline has been diluted too much to ever emerge naturally." **Kurama smirked. **"The only reason your Rinneganappeared was because of the surge of divine energy, so soon after birth, by the Shinigami's … shall we say dismemberment?"**

Naruto giggled, nervously. He seriously did not want to think what the Shinigami would do to him if he ever came back. "Kurama, you said that you created the _Sharingan_, right? Why did you give it to the Uchiha?"

Kurama gave a gusty sigh and hung his head. **"After about 500 years after Hagoromo's death, I went to visit the remnants of Hagoromo's descendents. When I visited the Uchiha, they were down to one couple. When I inquired as to the reason, I learned that, as a result of the high spiritual energy inherited from the Sage, they kept exhibiting strange nature releases unstably. This made them prime targets for kidnap, for breeding or extermination. It was for them that I fashioned the ****_Sharingan_****, thinking that their high spiritual energy would protect them from the corruption. I was wrong. Their own spiritual energy got corrupted, and thought the corruption itself does not pass through the blood, and the random chakra mutations stopped; every Uchiha falls to the curse once they activate it."**

Naruto was, by now, having serious second thoughts about ever unlocking the _Sharingan_. From what the fox had described, the eyes had almost as much disadvantages as advantages, though he supposed with the fox actively monitoring his activity the chance of him actually getting corrupted were pretty low.

Walking around the structures, they came to the red stone fox tail shaped pillar. Looking at Kurama for an explanation, Naruto was surprised to see a wide grin on the fox's face that, on Kurama's wide snout, looked quite scary. **"Ah, yes. This, Godling, is a doujutsu that was specifically created for non human use by yours truly."**

Naruto stared, astonished. "What do you mean non human? Who else uses jutsu?"

Kurama simply gave him a look, as if asking if was _that_ dumb. **"Remember the lesson on summons, kit?"**

And then Naruto remembered.

_FLASHBACK_

**"****Now kit, around the third celestial war, there were a group of demons with high spiritual power but relatively low ability, who grew tired of the constant wars between demons and gods. Therefore, after one particularly vicious battle, all the discontent tribes deserted, and fled their dimension the only way they knew how to; they pledged themselves to the service of humankind. Each tribe took the form of an animal they felt represented them the best, created scrolls that allowed them to be summoned to the human plane, and settled down in their own dimension. As time went by, they would learn of the methods used by the humans to manipulate chakra, and attempt it themselves as their original powers had been sacrificed in order to escape the demon realm. That is how the summons that modern day ninja use came to being."**

Naruto, who had been looking at him, spellbound, looked up. "So summons are demons?"

Kurama looked like he had anticipated the question. **"No. Not anymore, at least. Summons come from demonic origin, but in throwing off the yoke of demonic war and pledging themselves, they destroyed the demonic aspect of themselves irreparably. They grow, age, and die like humans and live their lives occasionally helping humans in their battles, and meditating on their lives to strengthen their spiritual core otherwise."**

_END FLASHBACK_

Naruto looked at Kurama with contemplative eyes. He was not sure how to take this particular piece of information. "So you made this for a summon? Why?"

**"****I made this for the fox summons, as a favor for Inari, the Lord of Foxes. It was to ingratiate myself with the God, as the sage, in all his ****_heavenly_**** wisdom, made me in the form of a fox. I think it was to serve as a form of leash for me, as by having a fox as part of my concept made me a part of ****_his_**** domain, if I ever went out of control Inari was contractually obliged to interfere."**

Naruto was intrigued at the possibilities shown by _that _sentence.

"Is it true for all gods? I mean that 'contractually obliged' thing you were talking about?" Naruto enquired, gesturing when he came to the 'contractually obliged' part.

**"****Well, you ****_can_**** theoretically ignore the urge to interfere, but the deity in question will ****_always_**** know when something against the natural order happens in the domain that they control" **Kurama spoke quietly, as if contemplating something. **"Kit, I hope you realize the true gravity of this conversation. Every time that your action strays into the domain of one of your fellow deities, you will be immediately informing them of your actions, which is… inadvisable at the least. Incidentally, this is one reason that celestial wars are so bloody; nothing can stay secret for long."**

The fox looked oddly solemn at that, making Naruto wonder as to what had actually happened, before he gave a start, appearing as if coming out of its contemplation, and spoke with a tone of forced cheerfulness. **"Well, we've strayed from the topic quite a bit, haven't we?"**

Naruto merely narrowed his eyes at the fox, more than aware of the change of topic. After a moment of looking at the fox though, who was looking remarkably unconcerned, he decided to leave that specific topic alone… for now. 'Time to lead this conversation to safer waters.'

"So, what _are_ the powers of the… what do you call this anyway?"

Kurama looked almost amused at the question. **"Summons do not name everything the way you humans do." **Kurama chuckled.

**"****Though I suppose you can call it the ****_Kitsunegan_**** if you wish. These eyes are the antithesis of the ****_Sharingan_****; I actually had to call in a favour from Uzume (Goddess of Dawn and Revelry) in order to craft it. Where the ****_Sharingan_**** intimidates, the ****_Kitsunegan _****persuades. It is even more adept at hypnosis than the ****_Sharingan_****, and its most potent attack places the victim in a state of euphoria, insensate to the surroundings."**

Then, to the horror of Naruto, Kurama gave a teasing grin. **"And well, this won't be useful for quite some time as far as you are concerned, but I hear it is also a rather potent tool in seduction."**

Naruto gaped at him, open mouthed. "I can't… I can't even believe that you just told me that! I'm just 4 years old!"

**"****But I can't remember the last 4 year old that talked like you do" **countered Kurama with a grin. Naruto was finding that he really hated that grin. He just hung his head; he had yet to win a verbal spar with the fox.

Following the fox, they crossed the perimeter of the doujutsu pillars and walked towards the enormous statue. Looking at the blue metallic chains that made up the fence, he came to notice that they had the same ethereal translucency that concentrated chakra had, at the edges. Looking at Kurama for an explanation, he noticed the crestfallen look on his face. "Ne Kurama, what do these represent?"

**"****These are the true reason for me helping you all this time, little Godling." **Kurama's voice was low and heavy with emotion; guilt, Naruto suddenly realized with a start. **"Like many old bloodlines, the Uzumaki had links to many different deities over time. However, this particular bloodline was jealously preserved in the direct line of inheritance and you are, as of now, the only person with ****_his_**** blood in their veins, especially now that the deity in question is not there to sire more progeny…" **

**"****It is not a coincidence, Naruto" **Kurama seemed to stress his name, as if he was supposed to mean something. **"That all main family Uzumaki had names connected, however distantly, to the Yamata no Orochi legend, as they call it now. Your mother's name was Kushina, as in Kushinada-Hime, as I told you, and your name means maelstrom."**

Naruto merely looked at him, confused and a bit exasperated. Honestly, wasn't he related to enough Gods already?

Kurama seemed to sigh. **"I hoped you would have picked up what I was trying to imply"** He seemed to sag a little, obviously not relishing the topic. **"You are the 23****rd**** in an unbroken line that started with Susano'o (The God of Sea and Storms) and Kushinada-Hime"**

**"****These chains were one of his main weapons; so he gave a facsimile of his power to his descendants, along with a love for anarchy that seems to have bred true, right down to this generation. He was quick to anger, fun loving, an incurable pervert, my comrade-at-arms, a-and my best friend"** Kurama's voice shook at the end, and he was not looking at Naruto at all. Naruto kept looking at Kurama, silently prompting him to continue. **"He sacrificed his existence for me at the Preta invasion of the Human Realm, around 400 years ago. We were fighting back to back as sworn protectors of the Human Realm, along with the summons and other minor Gods when he gave his essence in a suicidal charge. Amaterasu absorbed his shell like Tsukiyomi absorbed the Juubi's; they had to in order to challenge the First Gods, as we call them"** Kurama looked at Naruto's face, still locked in a confused frown. **"Izanagi and Izanami, you learned about this, Naruto!" **he breathed out, annoyed.** "Honestly!"**

**"****Anyway, these are Chakra Chains, and they are especially adept at inhibiting chakra flow; anybody wrapped in a coil of these chains will have trouble even calling up their chakra. They can also break apart most chakra based barriers and provide a nigh impregnable defence."**

**"****And now we come to the star of the show, the power that, when unlocked, will cause you ascension to true divinity, the powers of the Shinigami. You were lucky that you had Susano'o's chains, as they have kept the enormous power at bay, but that will likely not last long if you activate the chakra chain ability. Look at the statue carefully."**

And Naruto looked. When looking at the statue intently, he could just barely make out tiny golden veins along the obsidian stone statue. Following the veins downwards bought him to the base of the statue, where the veins continued until it met the fence of chakra chains. Though some veins still continued beyond the fence, most were stopped at the line. It seemed that Kurama was telling the truth; the chakra chains had stopped the contamination quite effectively.

**"****Still, the contamination is rapid enough that within 2-3 years you should begin to see undead souls near you."**

**"****Anyway, that is a concern for later. Now, it is time to do what we came here to do." **

Naruto looked at the pink pillar facing the entrance, twinkling innocently in the muted light of the crystal walls, and gulped.

…

…

…

**"****Now kit, carefully place both hands on the top of the pillar, so that both palms are pressed to the pillar but you are not exerting any force on it."**

Naruto did as instructed, though he was currently very hesitant about actually going through with the procedure. 'What the hell, it's not like I have anything to lose, and Kurama will pull me out of it if it's hopeless' Naruto tried to reassure himself, but that did not make something attempting to warp his mind any more appealing.

"All right Kurama, what next?"

**"****Try reaching out to it with your thoughts, command it to yield its secrets to you" **Kurama's voice was tight; he seemed to just as on edge about the _Sharingan_ as Naruto was. Watching Kurama so wound up about his own creation strangely eased the squirming knot in his stomach, he found. Taking a deep breath and rebuking his thoughts (just how can I breathe in my mind? Stop your philosophical ramblings, damn you!), he slowly reached out to the pillar, feeling slightly foolish for trying to telepathically communicate with a crystal pillar. Then the whole world paused; an unnatural stillness descended on the room, and the crystal seemed to pulse with light.

The crystal began to smoke, releasing a fine blood red smoke, mixed with pitch black particles. Then a pulse, originating from the pillar spread through the room; the air grew thick and the smoke that once was a pillar began to swirl erratically around a point around three feet in front of his head. The smoke was swirling, shimmering… coalescing to form an intricately designed circle that was as tall as he was, with its centre at eye level with him. It looked like a caricature of a single eye, but it looked _wrong_. The smoke was tinted bright red in the area of the iris, and it had 3 pitch black tribal markings that originated from a ring of the same colour surrounding the pupil. The markings were identical, a three pronged line that resembled the antler of a stag, with a curved sickle protruding from the sphere at the end of the tallest prong, curving anticlockwise. As the swirling of the smoke ceased, a dark crimson mist started issuing from the pupil, swirling in a cone that spanned around 6 feet in diameter.

He had not time to react. Before he could do any more than squawk in surprise, the blood red mist enveloped him.

His senses were overwhelmed. He was screaming, but could not hear himself above the blood pounding in his ears. His eyes could only see crimson. His skin was getting sticky, the warm liquid in the mist sticking to it. His nose was plagued by the overwhelming smell of iron. 'This is blood', he realized, with increasing horror.

Suddenly he was lifted off his mist, carried into the mist in dizzying circles. His feet were being dipped in a sticky, cold liquid. And just as suddenly as he had started, he was no longer spinning, but getting sucked into the liquid his legs were now encased in.

Looking down, he could barely make out that he was encased in a pitch black circle of _something,_ not quite liquid, not quite gas; slowly pulling him in. The mist was lessening now. Looking around for clues as to where he was, he could barely make out that the circle he was getting sucked into was surrounded by a larger red circle with tribal markings… he was getting sucked into the _Sharingan_!

His throat too sore to call for help, he looked back, hoping Kurama would stop this, but the mist still swirled around him.

Finally, the blood mist faded when he was encased until his neck in the cold, _oh so cold_, substance. Looking to Kurama for help, he saw the fox calmly observing him from the entrance, before he gave Naruto a mocking grin and left the room.

Naruto opened his mouth to scream, when, with a final tug he was finally pulled wholly into the abyss, and darkness closed on him.


	3. Lure of the Sharingan

**A.N.**The Sharingan that Naruto receives is described to have slightly different powers than canon. This is intentional. Also, this chapter ended up smaller than anticipated. The chapter originally had a larger word count, but since the next installment detours from the emphasis on powers and the Kurama-Naruto relationship to the training and a wider village perspective, I felt that it was prudent to stop the chapter here.

As usual, criticisms, positive or negative, are welcome.

_Disclaimer : Naruto, and its characters, belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Chapter 3 : The Lure of The Sharingan_

'It's cold in here.' This was Naruto's first thought as he _woke_, for the lack of a better term, in the abyss. Trying to open his eyes, he found that in here, he couldn't even feel his body. He was panicking. He tried to smell his surroundings, to feel it, to hear anything, to no avail; his senses had failed him for the first time in his life.

The darkness was pressing at him from all sides; embracing, cocooning, suffocating…

He snapped. Trying to bite at this strange nothingness surrounding him, he found that even his mouth was not responding to him. Raging, trying to scream, trapped in his mind in the inky blackness of total sensory deprivation, Naruto was feeling his sanity slowly slip away. The nothingness was getting to him.

…

…

…

He could have spent anywhere between a second and eternity in here. Time did not seem to flow in this space. In the absence of actual stimuli, his mind was making phantom signals, or so he hoped; he kept seeing phantom creatures emerge from the darkness only to disappear when he concentrated on them, feeling strange things snaking their way across his body…

The stimuli suddenly stopped. Where there earlier was a lack f any discernable feeling… The quiet was pregnant with suspense, as if the very air, if there was any, was waiting for something to happen. Then came the memories. All of a sudden, with an agonizing pain, memories of past abuse; he was reliving all the tortuous memories with crystal clarity and excruciating detail. The constant murmur behind him of villagers as their whispered about the 'Demon', the curses that the wizened old man across the street spat at him, the beatings that punctuated his every attempt at making friends, the punishments he got for 'corrupting good children with his demon filth', the hateful glares of the people passing by as he looked at the street from the gate of the orphanage; every minute detail of all the abuse he had endured in his short life were coming back. And whereas he would normally be apathetic to the abuse, this time they ripped through the barriers he had made growing up. Each curse was like an arrow to the heart, kindling the small flame of hatred that Naruto had, deep in his subconscious, held against his persecutors. As he watched the memories over and over again, he was starting to wonder. 'Why should I spare them from my wrath?'

At the very moment he asked this question in his mind, the blackness paused, and then cracked. And all of a sudden he could _feel _again! The sensory input was overwhelming, the abrupt change forcing him to his knees, clutching his head. Then came the disorientation, and his stomach churned uncomfortably. He was feeling faint.

All in all, it took about 10 minutes before he could attempt getting up without risking losing the contents of his stomach. Wary of his stomach, he got up to see that he was in the Main Street in Konoha, just in front of the Hokage Tower. The villagers were walking by, totally oblivious to him standing in the middle of the street. Wondering at the indifference, he looked at himself to figure out what was different, only to stare in surprise.

The first thing he noticed was that he was tall. While he was usually the average 3 feet that a 3 year old be, now he was at least 6 feet tall. He was wearing a blood red cloak, covering what looked like a regulation ANBU uniform. He was just admiring the detailed embroidery on the hem of the cloak when the world pulsed.

He was suddenly aware of the stares he was getting. He looked at the sources of the staring, sneering at the fools staring at him with… horror, fear, subservience?

Then all the people in the vicinity got down on their knees. "Kami-sama!"

'Wait, WHAT!' He looked at the kneeling populace, incredulously. 'What the hell is happening?'

One of the people nearest to him, a chunin, judging by the flak jacket, looked up and spoke, hesitantly, as if he feared inciting his anger. "My Lord, we have prepared a room for you as per your instructions. Please forgive this humble servant, but would you like to retire?"

When the chunin was speaking, he noticed that he had never seen this person before. In fact, all the people in the streets seemed to be foreigners; some with the white hair and tanned skin native to Lightning Country, some with the blue hair and sharp teeth of Water Country, etc. They also had one other similarity; an Uzumaki spiral tattooed on their forehead, from Kurama's lectures he identified it as a seal.

In a daze, he nodded. In a flash, the spokesperson of the group was beside him, bowing and singing platitudes as he led Naruto into a luxurious building. "I hope this meets your approval, My Lord?"

Naruto was running on autopilot. "Fine, go."

As the chunin scurried away, Naruto simply sat down on a nearby couch, with his head in his hands. This dimension hopping business was way too stressful, and combined with the torture he had endured in that abyss, he was exhausted, scared and most of all, confused. The behavior of this strange world wasn't helping him regain equilibrium either.

"It sure is nice to see them scurry like rats, isn't it?"

The mocking voice behind him startled him out of his rest. Swirling around, he came face to face with an intimately familiar face, but stretched out, looking older and matured. It was himself.

…

…

…

Naruto stared at his doppelganger. The other Naruto smirked back at him.

"W-Who are you? W-Why do you l-look like me?"

The doppelganger's grin merely widened. Now that he had gotten over the initial surprise, Naruto was analyzing the look-alike, cataloguing the features. He was tall, reaching at least 6'3'', and his spiky blond hair fell in bangs on either side of his head, and extended past his shoulders in long locks. His face was thin, almost feminine if not for the thin lips and the high cheekbones. The eyelashes were long and feathery, framing slightly slanted eyes. He had a firm but lean build, obviously built for speed and not strength. He was wearing the exact same clothing that Naruto seemed to be wearing. But there were subtle differences; the way he held himself, the thin smirk, the cold eyes, the arrogant bent in the features of his face, but most of all the _Sharingan_ swirling in his eyes hypnotically, a gleaming sinister blob of colour and murderous intent in his otherwise welcoming posture.

"Oh! You break my heart!" simpered Clone, as Naruto had decided to call him in his mind, in an over exaggerated manner. "You couldn't have forgotten li'l ol' me, could you? It's me, Naruto!"

'Tell me something I didn't know' thought Naruto irritably. It was obvious enough that this was some sort of facsimile of himself, the true question was _how_. So, out of options and depth, he decided go the obvious route. "You! Who are you and why are you me?"

Clone simply stared back at him. "I am me. You are you. I am not you" Spoken pointedly, as if to a child. Naruto felt his headache increase. This idiot really knew how to get on his nerves!

"Look. I'm tired, my head feels like someone took a hammer to it, and I have no idea where I am. Just… cut the idiot act, will you?" He sighed. "So, where am I, why am I so tall, and why are those people calling me god?"

Clone chuckled. The sound was sinister, Naruto noticed; cold and mirthless. "My dear traveler…" he spoke with a smirk in his face. "… Calling you god was a simple misunderstanding, I'm afraid. He simply mistook you for me."

"Then are you a god?" challenged Naruto. 'This is really getting on my nerves.'

"Not quite so simple, Naruto." Clone's tone was teasing. "You don't just become a god. You earn it."

"Then…"

"Do you know why you are here, Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Not to talk to a version of myself with a God complex, that's for sure." deadpanned Naruto, fed up with all the tiptoeing that his doppelganger seemed to be doing.

"Have you forgotten, you _are _a god!"

"You mean you've unlocked it?"

"_That_ is irrelevant. I rescued you from the abyss to let you make a choice. Now what you are here is to see what you can become." Clone had closed the distance between them, and was now whispering in his ear. "The _Sharingan_ is not a tool, Naruto. It is enlightenment. It is the ability to prioritize the needs of your life. It is the fan that flames your ambition!"

"With a _Sharingan_, you can truly be a god like I have become, instead of merely inheriting the mantle, Naruto. You can take your revenge on those who wronged you! Kill those brats at the orphanage, enslave that bloody fox, _destroy Konoha!_

"Come now, Naruto. Surely you aren't naïve enough to believe that the fox really cared? It was using you, just like others will. Just like Konoha will!"

Clone was now leaning onto Naruto, speaking in sibilant tones into his ear… "Think, Naruto. What has Konoha done to deserve you? What have the civilians done to justify you protecting _them_ from harm? What has Konoha done to help _you_, the son of their strongest leader, the Prince of Uzushio, who they pretend to idolize? You know you can only depend on you. This world needs to burn, Naruto. Burn you world, for as a phoenix rises from its ashes, as the forest fire fertilizes the forest, as the pruned tree grows healthy… You can build your Empire on the ruins of the Ninja system! You can kill the Hokage, take your rightful place, and subdue all those foolish enough to not obey you! You are strong, Naruto! You are born to rule over these incompetents; to cleanse the flock and destroy those unruly!"

Naruto was looking at Clone, gob smacked. When he had come here, he had certainly not expected a sales pitch to make him want to play god with the elemental nations!

"I will let this go if you can tell me you didn't enjoy it when the _fox -_" From the way Clone said the word, it was clear to Naruto that he loathed Kura- _No, the fox_. "- tortured that mob. But you can't, can you? Let go of that veneer of benevolence, Naruto. You are me and I am you; I know you better than yourself. Do you think this village will let you get strong? You are their monster on the leash; they will point you at their enemies until your usefulness ends. The fox betrayed you, Naruto! What makes you think the others will not! Accept the quest for revenge; anger will make you strong!"

Naruto was on his knees. His head was spinning. Everything that Clone said was true! He knew, deep down, that the village would not – would _never_ - accept him. Why shouldn't he get in the first blow? This traitorous village that vilified its heroes; it did not deserve to have him. He would destroy it; obliterate this vile village and its equally vile occupants and scatter its ashes to the four winds! Oh! He could just imagine it now, all of those villagers in bloody heaps! He would grow strong; strong enough to destroy every single life in this hell hole!"

A wind was picking up around Naruto and his body was starting to emit an aura of darkness, of corruption; even the wooden flooring was rotting and getting discoloured. Clone laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder gently. "Come, Naruto. Let me _show _you what we can do."

The bloodthirsty smirk almost gave Naruto pause; then he remembered the mob, the pain and the faces of the villagers, and felt a bloodthirsty smirk form on his own face. "Show me."

Clone leant over and touched his forehead with his left palm – 'He feels cold', Naruto thought idly – and looked at Naruto with his crimson eyes. Naruto felt the swirling _Sharingan_ draw him in, and the surroundings faded around him to reveal Konoha.

What followed was a massacre; seen from the murderer's eyes. Ninja, civilian, young old, children, all murdered with impunity. Startled ninja were throwing around jutsu that only hurt them, while a murderous wraith cut through them, leaving corpses in its wake. Naruto felt his blood sing in his veins; it was exhilarating, the release of his frustrations on this hateful vermin. Then, in the middle of spearing one ninja with his own ninjatō and throwing a kunai into the neck of a fleeing civilian when out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the Hokage monument - specifically the head of the Fourth – and felt a jolt run through his system. The sight of the fourth had awoken something in him; something old, and wanting to be heard. Then the headache hit. It was like something was fighting him for control in his own mind, like his brain was torn apart. Naruto fought back; little by little, the pressure gave in, and with it came new emotions, battering his tired mind – guilt, horror, self loathing… and the foreign presence was gone, and with it the scene of the massacre.

Naruto opened his eyes, not certain when he head closed them. It was night; he could clearly see the stars in the sky, a sky illuminated with… fire? His vision was growing blurry, he could feel tears pooling in his eyes, and foreign emotions that poured into him, of loss, fear, hurt… but these didn't seem corrupt, repulsive, slimy, as the ones in the scene of the massacre. Then a face swam into view, a face that was thin, almost girly, framed with blond hair that seemed to glow in the firelight. It was his father.

He could feel pain, from his fingers to his toes, as if he was overinflated. His eyes were burning, as if hot pins were piercing them, and his vision swam. Through the discomfort, he heard his father speaking, like a voice across an ocean of noise.

" Namikaze…Naruto… son…of Prop…leave…world…your… care… sorry… the…I…placed…remember…I…my convic…and…died…them…my son…is the legacy…leave for you… no matter what…do, follow… not… emotion. You… nexus… world…you guide… cleanse… parents… love you."

Love you… _love you… LOVE YOU… _

The words were reverberating through his mind, shattering the remnants of his hate, pouring out in waves of comfort. As he watched his father fall back with a smile on his face, still embracing his mother, he felt a conviction that he had never before felt in his life.

The surroundings cleared to reveal the scene of the massacre again, and Naruto knew what he had to do. His left hand, holding a kunai, was descending, oh so slowly, into the neck of a prone genin kunoichi. With all of his will, he tried force his hand onto obedience, to save the kunoichi, to not take an innocent life…

The world paused around him. Out of the silence came the sibilant hiss of Clone in his ear. "Why do you hesitate, you who are a god? Come on Naruto, finish it! Kill that cursed seed of that cursed village, take your revenge!"

Naruto was surprised to find that his hand was responding, he was back in control. It was his decision to make. He instinctively knew what to do. Using the hand not holding the kunai, he plunged it into his own stomach, slowly drawing out the figure of Clone, like a wraith. But this Clone was not the slick, smooth tempter that he had originally met. He was pale, his clothes were in tatters; he looked as if he was going to die.

"Don't do this Naruto! If you kill me, you will never gain the power of the _Sharingan_!"

Naruto simply held Clone aloft with one hand. "That does not matter anymore. I may be young, but I have seen enough of the world to know not to fall for my own hubris. Tell me, do you know the one thing I detest more than ignorant hate and pack mentality?"

He drew the kunai in an arc, spraying his body in blood as it cut through the neck of Clone. He let Clone hit the ground, and looking at the bloodless face and glassy eyes, he muttered. "It's someone messing with my head."

When Clone finally slackened, Naruto fell back, sitting on the street beside the figure of the genin kunoichi, whose face was frozen in a look of fear. Looking around, he found that it was not just the kunoichi; the whole world was still frozen around him.

He sighed. "Now all I have to do is find my way back…"

Just then, with a sound resembling an unplugged sink, a swirling portal opened in front of him. Naruto had no time to react; as he was pulled head first through the portal he had only one thought. "I hate my life."

…

…

…

When he came to, he was looking at obsidian stone. It was obviously the same room that he had started the whole chaotic journey at. Only there was one obvious difference; it was too detailed. He could see the swirling patterns in the stone, the microscopic tendrils of gold emanating from the suppressed divine power. After he controlled his shaking limbs, he managed to look at the room. The room had changed drastically in his absence; the _Sharingan_ pillar had sunk back into the floor and was now surrounded by a large depiction of the strange tribal _Sharingan_, the _Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan_, if Kurama was to be believed. The same carvings that once adorned the pillar now decorated the lower part of the wall facing the _Sharingan _drawing. The drawing was also spreading its own pink tendrils in the floor, tangling with the infinitely smaller golden tendrils. Naruto was still staring in wonder at the delicate patterns on the floor, when a polite cough interrupted him.

Looking in the direction of the cough, he saw Kurama lying down, watching him calmly. **"Hello, Godling. Had a nice nap?"**

Irrational anger filled Naruto. Snarling incoherently, he threw himself at Kurama, hoping to wipe that look off Kurama's face. Even as he jumped, he knew what was going to happen; to his horror, he could not change his trajectory, he was not fast enough! By the time his muscles were beginning to respond to the threat, a tail was in his face. A tail he saw coming even as he jumped, a tail made of individual gleaming reddish fur, each hair sticking out in a sharp point. He even knew how many hairs were there in the tail's tip, but all he could do was stare impotently as the tail wrapped around his legs and held him aloft, hanging upside down in Kurama's face.

**"****Now kit, what was that for?" **Kurama seemed amused.

"What the hell do you mean, what was that for? You left me to die! What did you do using my body while I was stuck there? Traitor!" Naruto was beyond anger. That this… this bastard fox could lock him up and then act like nothing happened…

**"****Naruto, snap out of it!"** Kurama was managing to look concerned, Naruto saw. **"What do you mean left you to die? You just stared at the pillar for a moment, collapsed, and then the pillar sank. I can see by your eyes that you have activated the ****_Sharingan_****. What happened to you?"**

"You bastard! You knew I'll get sucked into another dimension, didn't you? Stop lying!"

**"****Kit, ****_shut the hell up!_**** You have not moved an ****_inch_**** since you activated that pillar!"**

Wait… What? Instinctively, observing Kurama through the _Sharingan_, Naruto knew that particular sentence was not a lie. But he had moved to other dimensions, or that was what it felt like, and the _Sharingan _was famous for its space-time manipulation, but Kurama insisted that he didn't move, which was absurd! Kurama would have him believe that that never happened, that he had not gone on a bloody massacre, that this was a simple illu… sion… Oh.

_FLASHBACK_

**"****Now kit, the ****_Sharingan _****is a very powerful tool for an illusionist. A Sharingan, with its potent Space-Time Manipulation can create illusions so complex and convoluted that even a master of the art would be unable to tell where the illusion ended and reality began. Remember kit, these subtle uses of the ****_Sharingan _****can often prove even more useful than the overpowered abilities offered by its Mangekyo version."**

_END FLASHBACK_

…

…

…

Kurama was having a strange day. After finally managing to get into the core, he had been admittedly awed by the intricate designs adorning the walls of the hall. Though he had obviously not told the kit, the complexity of the core denoted the potential, both mental and physical, of an individual. The fact that Naruto had intricate carvings and abstract designs adorning the walls…

The following conversation had been rough. Even though it had happened over 400 years ago, the passing of Susano'o hadn't become any easier to think about. But for once, the guilt had been tempered by hope. Not that Susano'o could be revived; divine and demonic beings disintegrate when they overextend their powers in a suicidal charge, obliterating the very aspect that gives them form. It was that Susano'o's realm, which had been absorbed into Amaterasu's realm, would be regained by someone with the original bloodline; a divine descendant of Susano'o, found 400 years after his demise; it was like having a piece of his only true friend back.

Then the subsequent drama of obtaining the _Sharingan_ had unfolded. Kurama was a creature of pride, and one of his main points of pride was his eidetic memory. In all the time he had existed he had never forgotten anything he had sensed. He, like Naruto, had expected the trial to use the most oft recorded power of the _Sharingan_'s higher states; the power of Space-Time manipulation. He, Kurama, the creator of the _Sharingan_, should have known better. Unlike the _Rinnegan_, a hack fix for a mortal to combat a divine being, or the _Byakugan_, a gift given to a clan of medics by a minor god of healing, or even the _Kitsunegan_, which was primarily a tool of seduction, the _Sharingan _was created as an ideal supplementary ability for shinobi. And being tailored for shinobi, its powers encouraged cheating, overpowering, sneaking, and deception. Being what it was, it was perhaps not a surprise that, even unintended by the creator, the _Sharingan_ had become rather effective at the illusion arts, or genjutsu. He had known all this; it simply had not meshed together with the idea of the trial. And now, looking at the sniffling child desperately clinging to his neck, he was desperately wishing he could undo the events of today.

It had taken him the better part of an hour, in the mindscape, to get the rather disjointed story out of the distressed child. Once he had got the gist of what had happened he had been shocked. On one hand, Kurama _had _recognized the Clone, as the child called it, as the negative emotion centre that all beings had. With his triumph over the negative emotion centre, Naruto was one step closer to wielding Kurama's power without losing himself in the hatred of his chakra. On the other hand, the genjutsu was quite brutal for one used on a 4 year old, no matter how mature. Kurama was still unsure as to the long term psychological effects that the exposure to the genjutsu could cause.

"Ne, Kurama…hic… can I call you nii-san?" Naruto's voice was quiet, hesitant. Coming out of his reverie at the words, Kurama looked at the tear-streaked face of his container, his eyes, looking too big for his face back to being cerulean blue, though they had a red outline if observed intently. This was not the independent, apathetic boy from before today, he realized. The ordeal of the trial had torn down the barriers he had kept up, even when he was attacked by the mob six months ago. Coming out of the genjutsu, and finding out the manipulation from earlier had left Naruto raw, and Kurama could not bear to ignore the plea in Naruto's voice. Now all he had to do was get past his own phobia of emotional bonds.

Oh, well. He had given up much more important things before. Sighing, he gently stroked Naruto's head with one tail. "Anytime, kit. Anytime."


	4. The Eyes of a Kurama

**A.N.**. This chapter ran too long, so I have decided to publish it in 2 parts. Apologies for the delay.

As usual, criticisms, positive or negative, are welcome.

_Disclaimer : Naruto, and its characters, belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Chapter 4 : The Eyes of a Kurama_

In the weeks following the _Sharingan_ trials, as they had begun to call them, Naruto and Kurama's days began to fall into a monotonous pattern. This consisted of getting up in the morning, slipping out of the orphanage, and studying and practicing till dusk. During these excursions, Kurama always made Naruto activate the _Sharingan _to the highest possible level, the Eternal Mangekyo, and keep it activated, no matter what the exercise they were attempting was. Kurama's reasoning was that, as Naruto had two doujutsu to go, he had to make sure that their addition would be harmless to Naruto. According to him, the best method to do so was to get the eyes used to the strain, which involved keeping the doujutsu on at all times possible.

Currently Naruto was standing upside down on an overhanging branch, one hand balancing kunai held together in a chain by chakra and the other hand juggling a dozen marbles. Kurama, currently possessing a small red fox from the forest, was lounging on a nearby branch.

"Hey Kurama, Just how long do I have to keep on doing this?" Naruto was annoyed.

**"****Until I say so. Dance, my puppet, dance! Mwahhahahah!" **

"Thank you for the information, your royal highness." Naruto deadpanned. "Seriously, what's with the marbles and stuff? I'm not running for a circus, you know!"

**"****Ah, hah! Now we come to the crux of the matter!"** Kurama exclaimed theatrically, startling Naruto so much that he let go of the kunai and the marbles.

"Kurama! Stop scaring me like that!"

**"****Oh, stop complaining, you big baby. Aren't you supposed to be the big shot ninja?"** Kurama mocked. **"You need those coordination and chakra control exercises to start one of the most important things you will learn; the secret to one handed seals."**

"One handed seals?" Naruto turned to look at Kurama in surprise. And promptly sweatdropped.

Once again, inexplicably, Kurama was clad in the graduation cap, and he now had a pointer and a whiteboard behind him.

"Kurama, is that really necessary?"

**"****I don't know what you're talking about"** Kurama stated obtusely. **"Anyway, Naruto-****_chan_****, you must have noticed that with you having the ****_Rinnegan _****and ****_Sharingan_**** you are probably going to use a lot of elemental jutsu… I mean like waaaay more elemental jutsu than normal."**

"Yeah, so?"

Kurama sighed, putting on an exasperated air. **"So, you dumbass, if you know one handed seals, you effectively double your fire rate, not to mention facilitate combination jutsu!"**

"Oh."

**"****Oh is right. Now stop slacking off and start juggling!"**

…

…

…

It had been a year and half since Naruto had obtained the Sharingan. In the time following the gaining the doujutsu, and Naruto had become a spectre. He was rarely seen in the orphanage, sometimes preferring to spend his nights in his hidden training ground. He had also taken to haunting the training grounds of ninja, hoping to copy jutsu of training shinobi. He had, over time, had a modicum of success, being the proud user of at least half dozen C – E rank ninjutsu of each element. The problem was, however, that the ninja with higher ranked techniques either did not practice them regularly, or practiced in the jounin training grounds, the spying of which would require both more technique and higher chakra suppression ability than he had at the moment. This left only one possibility for acquiring higher ranked jutsu; the jounin sensei.

So here he was, spying on the most promising of the jounin sensei of the recent batch of academy graduates; a relatively young jounin, not hailing from a clan, specializing in elemental jutsu, and with a reputation of bragging and showing off according to a henged conversation with the kitchen help of the jounin bar. In other words, a braggart just _begging_ to have his best moves stolen from him.

This was not the first time he had done this; he had done the same last year. But that time he had misjudged the jounin. The man had just kept dodging everything that the students threw at him, mocking them all the while. Naruto had made sure to remember that face, if it could be called that – the man only had an eye and a shock of white hair exposed.

Naruto's musings were interrupted by the arrival of the team in question. The male members of the newly minted team were nondescript; but the kunoichi shocked Naruto. The first thing he thought when he saw the genin kunoichi was… loud.

That word described everything about the kunoichi, from the pink… _pink! _... flowing dress she wore, to the neon blue hair, to the excited chatter that preceded her entrance to the clearing. They were followed a few minutes later by the jounin. After settling down on a pile of training logs a few minutes later, the four ninja were playing the 'who's who', unknowingly adding to Naruto's already impressive database of the information of the ninja in the village.

"All right, genin, introduce yourselves." The jounin puffed up his chest importantly, and Naruto, hidden in the foliage around the clearing, had to stifle a chuckle. The man was truly obsessed with his self-importance.

Meanwhile, at the jounin's command, the genin had stood at attention. A look passed between them, and the male genin at the right of the kunoichi stepped up.

"Genin Ichitsuri Ichibo, No. 12489, specialization bojutsu, sir!" Naruto took note of the staff on his back, an elaborate affair of hardwood with carvings on it. Then the dark haired teen stepped back, allowing the flamboyant kunoichi to step forward.

"Genin Kurama Akane, No. 12494, specialization genjutsu, sir!"

'So that explains the flamboyance', thought Naruto. As Kurama told him, frontline genjutsu specialists often dressed in unique, eye-catching costumes in order to prompt a second glance from the enemy, giving them the opportunity to trap their opponent in a genjutsu. Furthermore, the genin caught Naruto's notice in 2 other ways; the hidden depths in her eyes suggesting at a troubled past, and her last name, Kurama.

"Hey nii-san, you there?" The fox, acting rather cat-like in his opinion, was prone to taking naps at odd hours of the day.

"**What do you *yawn* want, kit?" **Yup. Definitely cat-like.

"Stop sleeping, you nine-tailed cat! What do you know of that genin?"

**"****Don't call me that!"**

"Why, don't you like being a cat?"

**"****I am going to kill you, Godling!"**

"And how are you going to kill the incarnation of death, huh?"

**"…"**

"I thought so."

**"****Damned smartmouth…"**

"Uh… Kurama, if you've finished sulking, can you check this out?"

Naruto heard Kurama make a contemplative noise when reviewing the introduction that Naruto had transmitted. When he finally answered, Kurama's tone was oddly subdued.** "I can remember a clan in Konoha that used to worship me… They took my name as their last name, and I gave them a body-based bloodline that intensified their illusions. From what the girl said, it seems we have encountered one of them… I wonder how they have fared… Hey kit, can you check up on the genin after the test? After all, divine beings have to look after their worshippers, ne?"**

When Naruto refocused on the scene, the third genin had apparently already introduced himself and the jounin had already gone on to test of skills. The first genin, Ichibo, was currently trying to hit the jounin while the third genin was sporadically throwing kunai. The jounin was lazily evading the weapons while mocking the genin. Naruto gritted his teeth; it looked like not even _this _jounin would give him anything to work with. Meanwhile, Akane was weaving hand seals rapidly, constructing an illusion. When she finished the hand seals, the air darkened, and clouds covered the sky. It was a odd sight for Naruto; he could plainly see the weather phenomenon, but the Sharingan was stubbornly refusing to believe that there was anything taking place in front of him. This resulted in a sort of double vision, with both visions superimposed on each other. With an ominous sound, a bolt of illusionary lightning speared onto the dumbfounded jounin. Looking like a startled rabbit, the jounin quickly went through hand seals. "Wind release: Enveloping wind wall!"

The air thickened around the jounin, gaining a greenish tint due to the concentrated elemental chakra. Naruto's tribal marked Sharingan spun, and he smirked in accomplishment. He now had an A-ranked non-bloodline ability jutsu under his belt. Copying jutsu with his _Sharingan _was a strange experience, Naruto mused. When he copied the jutsu, he had no actual comprehension of the jutsu he was copying. It was like an automated programmed sequence; he could decide to use the jutsu and the mind would simply reproduce what it saw. This meant that if the original user was using the jutsu inefficiently or incorrectly, the _Sharingan _user would also make the same mistakes instinctively. This was why the Uchiha did not make use of the jutsu stealing ability often, and why the Sharingan Kakashi he had heard of been so idolized – He had taken a dangerous ability and made it work, stealing several jutsu from enemy villages in the process. Indeed the use of the _Sharingan_ required much more work than the general populace believed; the user had to be very proficient with the method of chakra manipulation used in the copied jutsu or risk having his chakra network frying inside him. This very phenomenon had led to the death of more than one Uchiha in the battlefield, and led to the Uchiha training their chakra natures much sooner than other shinobi clans.

Then, startling him, he heard a loud *crack* from the ground.

The lightning blot seemingly spear right through the wall, not even changing its trajectory.

When the lightning bolt seemingly speared through the _wind _wall without changing trajectory, however, the jounin seemed to understand he had been had. It was obvious to Naruto as well; after all lightning was inferior to wind, and there was no way that a genin could outpower a jounin. With impressive speed the jounin's hands snapped up to form the Ram seal and he bellowed "Release!" as he let loose a pulse of chakra.

The environment wavered, and then shifted to reveal clear skies. Then, with a groan, the jounin fell to his knees, panting.

"Y-You Pass."

…

…

…

By the time her sensei had finally finished his spiel on his 'awesomeness' following the test, Akane was exhausted.

'Oh my gosh, that's exhausting. How the hell does that brat Yakumo do it all the time?'

This was a terribly odd day, Akane mused. Frustrating too. What the hell persuaded Hokage-sama to put her on the same team as the Zombie brothers, Ichibo and Iwao? It was not like she hated them - She had nothing against them, but they were so damn androgynous, and a statue had more emotions!

Speaking of which, it seemed as if Sensei and the zombie brothers had already left. She sighed. It was not as if she expected any different. People witnessing the Kurama powers for the first time were often spooked, and it was quite obvious that Sensei was one of the masses. And as for the zombie brothers, no one knew where they lived or what they did when not in the academy. Not even their most demented fangirl in their fan clubs, for of course Konoha had one for every broody bishonen, had ever found out where they lived. She could no more have expected them to wait for her sake than she would have expected it to rain when she wished. Of course maybe Yakumo could do it, and actually make it rain too, what with her creepy id monster powers. She sighed. Her chakra exhaustion was making her thoughts ramble.

With a groan, she got up from when where she had collapsed after executing the genjutsu. Man, did that genjutsu make her tired. Unlike most genjutsu, Kurama family hijutsu had a tendency to consume chakra orders of magnitude larger than conventional genjutsu. This was because, while genjutsu attacked the opponent's chakra system, Kurama techniques directly attacked the nervous system. This made them much more durable than normal genjutsu. Of course, this also meant that Kurama techniques, especially wide scale attacks like what she performed, were more akin to highly complex lightning based long range medical techniques. Yup, not simple. And seeing as her affinity was earth, which was weak against lightning, it was no wonder that her family jutsu were hard for her to use.

'Not that it really mattered,' she thought, idly brushing her brown hair out of her eyes. Her father, Kurama Unkai, considered her a disgrace. These days the only reason he even spoke to her was to spit out a backhanded comment on how worthless she was compared to the heiress Yakumo. She breathed out, trying to control the sudden rush of anger at the thought. So when she saw a pair of crystal blue eyes peering through the foliage, she snapped.

"Oi! Come out of that bush, you sneak!" She yelled, pulling out a pair of kunai from her weapons pouch. "…Before I put some holes in you!"

The blue eyes widened slightly, before they disappeared. She immediately threw her kunai at the general direction of the figure, but there was no thud of the kunai hitting anything. Then the bush rustled, and out came… a kid?

It was a kid.

Small, fragile looking, he had golden blond hair cascading in unruly spikes around his face and covering his eyes. He was wearing a ragged pair of beige trousers and a shirt which must have once been white – though it had given up any hope of regaining that colour long ago – which was adorned with a faded red tie-dye spiral. On his feet was a pair of worn, mended straw sandals.

However, even in this getup, he managed to somehow look intimidating, as if he were some sort of royalty. Looking at the strange kid carefully, she decided that it was the eyes. His eyes were a pure blue, 'cerulean', she thought, that sparkled with a sort of intense intellect that simply did not fit his angelic features. Indeed, with his blond hair, blue eyes, thin face and waifish features he was a perfect example for the kind of kid that would get bullied in the streets, if not for his eyes. They were eyes with depth, layers upon layers hiding in the blue pools that were his eyes. Eyes that were cold, calculating evaluating, omniscient. Eyes that speared through her very being, reminding her of her failures, bringing out her insecurities, laying everything bare to his sight. Eyes that were regal, looking at her with a solemn gaze that unnerved her.

But beyond all that, the eyes reflected understanding, the understanding of a child forced to grow up before their time. This boy had seen the seedy underbelly of life, she knew. She knew at least that aspect of his gaze, how could she not? After all, she saw those eyes in the mirror every morning. She saw it in her own.

And that intimidated her more than anything else.

…

…

…

Naruto had just adjusted to the foreign knowledge appearing in his mind; the _Sharingan_ gave an extremely unsettling feeling when in use. Therefore, when the girl, _Akane_, called him out, he was undeniably startled. Startled enough in fact, that he stumbled out of the branch he was lying on and fell, landing face first in the hard, rocky ground.

'Ow. That hurt! How the hell could she see me anyway? Kurama, didn't the genjutsu I put up work?'

**'****It worked alright.****'** The fox sniggered. **'Until you decided to use the copying ability that is. You do know that the ****_Sharingan_****can only sustain one technique at once, right?'**

'...'

**'****...'**

'…And you tell me this now? If that girl sees me, my training ground excursions are over. This isn't funny damn it! Stop giggling!' Indeed the fox was, by this point, guffawing and giggling like a hyena on a sugar high.

**'****Well kit, I thought you knew. I can forget too, you know!'** The last part was said almost defensively, as if Kurama was hiding something from him, Naruto noticed. You could never tell what Kurama actually thought on any one subject. Shelving that thought temporarily, Naruto focused on the crisis in hand. On one hand, if the genin spread word of his appearance in the training ground, that would bring the scrutiny of the village administration on his head, which was undesirable at this stage of his plans. On the other hand…

Naruto made up his mind to show himself to the paranoid genin. It was not like it was much risk, he reassured himself. If the meeting did not proceed according to his expectations, he would simply remove her memory of the encounter. It was a risky proposition with the _Sharingan,_ but it was doable. And at this stage, he would take even the risky option; it was way too early for any hint of his ability to reach the authorities.

This time, he checked the foliage intently with his _Sharingan._ What followed was risky, and he wanted nobody spying on him. He, at Kurama's insistence, even checked the surrounding air trails, which the fox said could be used by the Hokage to spy on them, using some sort of telescopic sight jutsu. Finally, after assuring himself that they were indeed alone, he slowly walked out of the bushes, towards the staring kunoichi. She seemed angry, but underneath the anger he could detect surprise, and a hint of fear. Was she afraid of him?

Now that the action was over, Naruto could finally look at the genin in question. Akane was, he found, either quite petite for her age, or younger than the other graduates. Also, now that he was a bit used to her loud dress sense, he found that she was quite pretty. She had a pixyish face, which was framed by her bright blue hair, a rarity outside Water country. Her hair was tied into a messy bun on the top of her head, with strands falling across the sides of her face. Her eyes, coloured a deep, blue black colour with black flecks in it, were currently observing him intently, like a trapped deer. Naruto almost found it cute.

…

…

…

The boy was coming closer.

Every step felt like a drum beat, winding up for some cataclysmic event just beyond her comprehension. His back was straight; his head was up defiantly… He looked like a prince, no… He looked like a conquering king examining his territory.

Each step was measured, and with each step his gaze became more piercing. It was too much… Akane averted her eyes and blushed.

Then, before she knew it, the boy was in front of her, a hand on her cheek, peering into her eyes.

Absently, she noticed his eyes had changed; no longer were they the calm, clear blue… No, these eyes were crimson.

Not the bright, fluorescent red of the detestable _Sharingan_, she knew those eyes very well due to her spars with Uchiha Masao, that prat of the level of the zombie brothers.

Some other time the colour change would have startled her… not this time. Not with his captivating eyes boring into her. No, these were a deep, rich, red… cloudy, hinting at things that she could not understand… Eyes full of affection of a kind she had never experienced before…

The boy was speaking, she could see, out of the corner of her eye. Kitsunegan : Release of the damned? What was that? No matter, He would know best. This boy knew best, he would never hurt her, that she knew. She was his, and he was hers, forever and forever…

She was drifting in ecstasy.

Unknowingly, she leaned into his slight hand, gently nuzzling it. The tired feeling from before was gone… She could stay this way forever… free from the troubles of the world, free from the harsh words of her father… This boy… no, this was her god… Yes, God… He would look after her, it would be all right, and everything was going to be all right, she was so happy.

So happy, so very happy, so very ecstatic to be chosen… She vowed to look after her God to the best of her ability… Even Kyuubi-sama, the patron deity of the Kurama clan was telling her to let go… To accept the embrace of this God in human guise that had come to comfort her… She closed her eyes, relaxing in her God's embrace.

…

…

…

Naruto slowly laid the slumbering genin down on the soft earth of the training ground. It was not as if her dress could get any dirtier, he rationalized. Then he sat back and exhaled.

That had been quite tiring. He had not even known whether it would work… The attacks of the _Kitsunegan _were completely lacking any visible sign, so even though he had learned the techniques, he had not known if they would succeed. Of course, now that the hypnosis had been inserted into the brain of the kunoichi, it would be permanent. The _Kitsunegan _was a truly dangerous tool, subtler by far than the _Sharingan_ but just as resourceful. The illusions of the _Kitsunegan_ didn't simply affect the brain, they altered it. It could mold the brain patterns like a child could mold clay, with the brain affected retaining its new programming until the _Kitsunegan_ user required it to change. Still, even that would only bring about a facsimile of what once was; like making the same shape from a clay figure after flattening it, it would look the same but could never actually be so.

**"****You know, I should really be cross with you for subjugating one of my followers." **The fox's tone was sarcastic, with a hint of a growl.

"But you aren't, _and_ you gave her your blessing, if you don't remember." Naruto pointed out, quietly amused at the fox. "I know that was not part of my technique."

**"****Well kit, you do use that like a pro."**

Naruto growled. "It better, after what I endured. I swear, that hurt more than the _Sharingan_ trial!"

Naruto still remembered when he unlocked the _Kitsunegan_. He had never felt that horrified about pleasure before.

_FLASHBACK_

"Uh, Kurama, are you sure about this?"

**"****Well, it's a bit too late to have doubts, don't you think?"**

They were back in the Soul building, in the room of the sealed powers, looking at the red stone pillar. Today, they were going to unlock the second of his doujutsu, and just like before the _Sharingan, _he was nervous. It was not that he was terrified of the doujutsu, though he supposed a sane person would be. It was just that sometimes the doujutsu behaved as if they had their own mind; he still sometimes felt twinges of thoughts that were not his own, urges to act in a manner he would never endorse, originating from his _Sharingan_.

"Well, better do it before I lose my nerve." Naruto quipped, as he held his hand facing the red stone pillar. Trying futilely to regain his nerve, he sent a telepathic command to the pillar.

The pillar started to _squirm_, for a lack of a better term, and then started to emit a red dust that covered him, obscuring his surroundings. Then it hit.

Debilitating, overwhelming pleasure swept across him like a tsunami. He could not regain his senses even to open his mouth to scream. All his pleasure senses were tingling, his nerves firing at once, his muscles taut, locked in the excruciating pleasure, his eyes were rolling to the top of his head… He was starting to lose his mind, his sense of self, his identity, but were they even important anymore? As long he could lie forever, enveloped in this bliss, this pleasure, Oh this overwhelming pleasure…

And then it was gone. Opening his eyes, which he had not realized he had closed, he looked at the surroundings. His muscles were hurting, a deep ache of overused muscles. The lack of stimuli was jarring. His field of sight was covered in red dust, swirling towards him like a swarm of bees. He tried to get up – when had he fallen down? – but his tired muscles would not respond. And he felt a strange feeling overcome him, like a cold brush was lightly making its way down his spine. And he couldn't move. And the dust swarm kept coming closer, and closer and closer…

He yelled when the first particles struck his eyes. Not in pain, there was no pain surprisingly, but in surprise. Then, all the dust animated, rushing into his eyes like eagles to rabbits.

It was over. Slowly, painfully getting to his feet, he turned to face a faintly familiar fox and a strange room.

"Ano… Do I know you?"

_END FLASHBACK_

It had taken him 2 weeks to remember his life properly. Since then, he had treated the _Kitsunegan_ with fascination and a little bit of horror.

It was an immensely powerful tool, he had realized, and he practiced with it regularly. And today it had saved him a lot of trouble.

Naruto was called back to the present when the bundle of pink, blue and dirt at his feet down his body, he saw the face of Akane, as she slowly adjusted herself onto her knees before sitting in seiza before at him with expressive, deep blue-black eyes, she murmured.

"How may I serve you today, Naruto-sama."


	5. The Gambit of the Damned

**A.N.**This is the second part of the earlier chapter that was cropped due to length. This chapter mostly is in the perspective of Sarutobi Hiruzen, and will set the stage for the wider plots that follow. This chapter is transitional, bridging the gap between the origin of the powers and their use. The events that led up to the stage will come later.

As usual, criticisms, positive or negative, are welcome.

_Disclaimer : Naruto, and its characters, belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Chapter 5 : The Gambit of the Damned, Into the Mind of a Monkey_

It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver.

Niccolo Machiavelli

One Year Later

Sarutobi Hiruzen was confused. The man, extremely old for an active ninja of the force, was looking at the village from the balcony, as was his habit. This was the norm in the Hokage Tower, and nobody would ever look twice at the scene, if it wasn't for the prominent frown on the aged ninja's face. This had been happening intermittently for the last year or so, and it was starting to make the veterans of the Second Shinobi war, what few of them that remained, extremely jittery. It was said between the veterans, only half in jest, that when The God of Shinobi showed true emotion, a village was massacred somewhere in the elemental nations.

And he was frowning now, an extremely unusual action for one such as him, but as to why this was considered abnormal, that was more complicated. To know that, you would have to have some background on the Third Fire Shadow of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, The Professor, the third recipient of the title 'The God of Shinobi', Summoner of the Monkey Clan, Sarutobi Hiruzen of the Sarutobi Clan of Konohagakure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was born in the baby boom that occurred immediately after the settlement of the clans into a newly built Konohagakure. Born to legendary ninja Sarutobi Sasuke and his wife, Sarutobi Harumi, formerly Senju, a famed genjutsu user, young Hiruzen grew up in the burgeoning ninja village of Konohagakure, listening to tales of the lawless days before the formation of the ninja villages, and marveling at the novel idea of peace in the Elemental Nations. Orphaned soon after birth, Hiruzen was an outcast to the rest of his clan, even as the clan heir, as they felt uncomfortable in his presence due to his mother, who had been killed after turning traitor to the village, soon after his father had died. Therefore, instead of the Sarutobi clan, Hiruzen was often found in the company of one Shimura Danzo, the heir of the highly militaristic and highly loyal Shimura clan, who took in Hiruzen and trained him, along with Danzo, from a young age. This was commonly considered by those who knew him to be the only time in his life that he formed an honest emotional tie with another party.

The training they underwent was commonly considered brutal, even inhumane, but to young Hiruzen it was the best time of his life. Their growth was considered astronomical, each growing to be each as strong as an inexperienced jounin by the time they were 9 years old.

This training had led to increased tension between the Shimura clan and the Sarutobi clan, formerly allies, as the Sarutobi clan were hoping for the young Sarutobi's death during a mission so that he would be out of contention for the clan head title. This caused tensions between the clans, with the other clans of Konoha siding with one or other of the clans, until an civil war was imminent, with Sarutobi Hiruzen being the bone of contention between the two sides.

The tensions had almost led to an all out clan war, with the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, being forced to intervene in order to stop the dissolution of Konoha before it truly even got established. He did this by proclaiming Hiruzen no longer the clan heir, appeasing the Sarutobi who installed the current interim head's daughter, Sarutobi Biwako as the recognised Clan Heir, and taking Hiruzen under his own wing in order to appease the Shimura clan. However, being the bone of contention between two formerly allied clans had had an effect on Hiruzen. Having always been a rather cagey and cautious individual, Hiruzen had become downright paranoid. His friendship with Danzo had soured, with Danzo feeling jealousy over the overprotective attitude that his clan showed towards his friend.

Learning under Tobirama Senju, a noted strategist, continued Hiruzen's rapid growth. Considering the Hokage as his savior, Hiruzen grew to emulate certain qualities of the Second, most notably his strategy, long term planning, lack of morals, nigh-obsessive love of the ideal of the village, and the distrust of Uchiha unless proven otherwise. This was only exacerbated by the fact that Kumogakure, in a surprise attack, massacred the Shimura clan, effectively orphaning him for the second time. The Shimura clan had been massacred in their beds, their own loyalty blinding them to possible treachery, leaving Konoha minus a Founding clan, and a lone disgruntled career chunin traitor.

By the time he inherited the mantle of Hokage, at the age of sixteen, the youngest kage ever, Hiruzen had already become well known for his ruthlessness, lack of mercy, and his love of the village. Later on, after winning the First Shinobi War, he worked with his subordinates, his former teammates Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu to slowly isolate the Uchiha clan from the village. During this time, he also conducted a silent coup within the Sarutobi clan, forcing the current heiress, Sarutobi Biwako, to marry him, returning the mantle of Head of the Sarutobi Clan to himself.

Clandestine operations slowly changing Konoha, disappearances and blunted information channels marked the first part of his reign, until the start of the Second Shinobi War. During the war, realizing his openly cutthroat attitude was causing tensions against, and weakening Konoha, Hiruzen decided to leave the gory tactics to his most ambitious student Orochimaru, and his self proclaimed rival Danzo, who had fashioned himself the Darkness of Shinobi, in reply to his inheriting the title from the First Hokage. Instead, he slowly allowed his previous ruthlessness to fade into the background while adopting the guise of a venerable, knowledgeable and approachable Hokage, slowly manipulating everyone to do act as he wished using long term, convoluted machinations. HE had evolved, from a tiger in a forest, to a spider in its web.

He had manipulated his old rival into allying with Hanzo, resulting in his rival's independent army being decimated and Hanzo, who might have posed a great threat to Konoha, closing his borders due to civil unrest. He had silently funded a group of rebel ninjas in Iwagakure, leading to the formation of Ishigakure. He had manipulated his Sensei's sister-in-law, Uzumaki Mito, to request a suitable replacement to host the nine tails from the Uzumaki clan of Whirlpool, quietly assassinating the weakened Mito after the transfer. Then, in order to ensure the container's total loyalty to the village, he quietly arranged for the Uzushiogakure to be destroyed by three Shinobi villages. Later, to seal the loyalty, he had a set of Danzo's ROOT ninja, which he had loaned, kidnap the new container while acting as Kumo ninja in sight of Jiraiya's apprentice, an orphan survivor of a defunct clan, and a person harboring a crush on said container, Namikaze Minato. True to his expectations, Minato had 'rescued' Kushina from the 'Kumo Ninja'. However, looking back, that had been his worst tactical mistake ever. That had been the last time where things had gone according to his plans where Minato was included. Contrary to his belief, the young seal master had not been easy to manipulate. Under that fragile, weedy, and frankly girly frame lay a mind of steel. Rapidly making his way up the ladder during the Third Shinobi War, he soon had Hiruzen cornered as far as the choice of successor went. Having held out as far as was prudent, he had graciously stepped down and allowed Minato to ascend to Hokage, gritting his teeth all the while in the privacy of his thoughts. Things had escalated rather rapidly after that. With the desertion of Orochimaru, which he had half expected, and the Hokage's meetings with the Uchiha clan, which he had not, Hiruzen's position was becoming increasingly precarious. He had honestly been relieved when the Kyuubi fiasco had taken place, ridding him of an unwanted wife, troublesome Hokage, and a headstrong container at the same time, leaving a malleable child for him to mold.

Yes, to Hiruzen, the Kyuubi's attack had been a Godsend. After all the years slaving at it, his plans had been on the verge of being destroyed by his blond successor to the title of Hokage… But now, He was back in his element, with no contenders for Hokage, the Uchiha clan more isolated than ever, and a malleable Uzumaki clan heir and jinchuuriki for him to mold into a sacrificial lamb for the village.

But now, it seems, almost seven years after that truly unexpected windfall, the fates were turning against him once more. Uzumaki Naruto was growing to be even more troublesome than his parents. Hiruzen had put him into one of the worst maintained orphanages in Konoha in order to condition him, make him pliable, easy to manipulate, and ready to consider him a savior when he 'rescued' the jinchuuriki just before he was ready to start the ninja academy. But no, it could never be that easy with a spawn of Namikaze Minato. According to reports he had just received from the caretakers of the orphanage, Naruto was showing troubling behavior. Not the tall tales of demonic rituals and random insanity; they were just embellishments to 'convince the Hokage to finally kill the demon'. What really had him concerned were the gleanings of fact he could identify within the fiction that was his report. From what he had read, he had gathered that the jinchuuriki was often absent from the orphanage, sometimes for days on end, wandering the forests around Konoha.

This was not going according to plan. The boy was supposed to yearn for attention, not shun what little he had. That would lead him down the path of sociopathic misanthropy, like that deranged Gobi Jinchuuriki of Onoki's, Han. What Hiruzen needed was a martyr, and by god he was going to get it!

Yes… Perhaps it was time to accelerate his plans for the little jinchuuriki. He had originally planned to meet him just before his enrollment in the academy. But if he pretended to have heard of him now, and popped up at the orphanage, take him from there… and install him in an apartment in the village proper… The possibilities were endless.

It would endear him to the supposedly reclusive boy, while also forcing him to confront all the hate of the villagers. It would distress the boy, no doubt. And a malleable mind is easier to condition. So yes, tomorrow he would go to the orphanage and retrieve the jinchuuriki. He had an unused rundown apartment complex in the red light district that would be ideal for hi – What was that?

All of a sudden, a pulse with no focal point travelled across the Hokage office. It was utterly silent and invisible, he had only noticed the change in the air flow. Hiruzen instinctively slipped into a combat stance, discarding the kage robes and standing in his mesh armor, summoning a bo staff that was taller than him.

There was silence for a moment. Then, with an ominous creaking, four bodies hit the floor around him. Four?

Hiruzen warily glanced at the bodies around him, wary of the invisible attacker. The bodies were dressed in black, all of them wearing the standard ANBU garb. Three of them were his ANBU, codenamed Dog, Cat, and Crow respectively. Three of the strongest ANBU in his command, all at a minimum of an A-Rank. And all of them were on the floor, leaking lifeblood onto the custom-made wooden floor of the Hokage Office, in the Hokage Tower, the structure most heavily protected in the village, bar none. All of them with a bloody cut on their abdomen. Oh well. That ruined quite a lot of his plans. Especially now that Crow, Uchiha Itachi, was dead. But he had played this game for more than half a century; this was only a temporary setback. If he had his way, whoever did this would walk out of Konoha his loyal spy; as the proclaimed 'Professor', he knew more than a little about Yamanaka mind-subjugation jutsu, the nastier part of their clan arts.

The fourth body was similar to the other three, but for the mask; it was painted a uniform white. It was also leaking blood from the neck. NE, he realized. So the old cripple was still keeping an eye on him, he should have realized. Of course his old training partner, and the sole surviving Shimura, would know that he was more than what he seemed; an old tired man hanging on to a young man's job.

Then a whisper echoed in the room, seemingly coming from everywhere, yet nowhere. "Greetings, Sandaime Hokage. I come bearing information you may deem important." The androgynous voice was raspy, as if the owner was not used to speaking, but there was a familiar undertone that Hiruzen couldn't quite place.

So instead, he raised an eyebrow mockingly. At this point that was all he could do. To kill three people with three _Sharingan between _them… "And you had to kill my ANBU for that?"

A shadow stepped out from behind the potted plant that adorned the office; in the next second the weighty bo staff was speeding forward, its metal capped end on a collision course with the figure's head. At least it was, until it literally rippled through the figure, without harming the figure in the least. Hiruzen's eyes widened, and then narrowed. "Who are you, intruder?"

"Don't try the innocent act Sandaime, it does not suit you." The figure deadpanned. "You can't fool me into thinking that you haven't heard of me."

"…"

"…So you're the Phantom, that's terrorizing all the ninja's in the elemental nations indiscriminately? The killer of the Shiromaru Brothers? The one who stopped a fight between an Iwa nin and a Suna nin, only to kill them both? The mysterious ninja with no origin, who appeared a few months ago, who's rumoured to be even faster than my successor? So come, face me, Phantom. But first, why are you attacking Konoha?"

The figure stepped into the light. The dim light of the sunset did not reveal much more than the silhouette had. Phantom was dressed in pitch black, a cape concealing the contours of the body. Covering what parts of the face not hidden by the overhanging hood was a matt black mask, probably made of ceramic. The figure did not have any visible weapons, but that meant nothing with shinobi.

The figure tilted its head, as if considering the words, before it spoke. "Attacking the ANBU was simply expedient to the main mission. I have no desire to fight Hatake Kakashi or Uchiha Itachi in a cramped office. It was essential for the mission that I get to deliver this message. Which I shall do now."

Hiruzen tensed, preparing for an attack.

Then the figure slowly, moving in exaggerated motions as not to startle the Hokage, put its hand inside the cloak, pulling out a scroll. Wordlessly opening the scroll, it then gave the scroll to the Hiruzen, who read it, careful not to look away from the ominous figure hovering in front of him, three cooling corpses of ANBU lying in a pool of blood at its feet.

Halfway through reading the scroll, Hiruzen's eyes widened, and his knuckles whitened as the scroll creaked under the pressure being exerted.

"What did you do to Naruto?" The tone was a hiss, the killing intent overwhelming. However, Phantom did not seem to be affected.

"He shall be in our care. Do not worry about the Kyuubi; Naruto shall be returned when he is ready to take the graduation test." The figure paused, as if uncertain. Then, "After all, the Kyuubi cannot leave Konoha, can it?"

The sneer on the figure's face was evident, even through the mask, as was the paling of Hiruzen's face. He recognised the words; after all, he had said it to Kushina immediately after the destruction of Konoha, and repeated it whenever she sought a mission to improve her experience. The use of that phrase, with that emphasis… Whoever this was, they knew Kushina.

The silence was broken by the sound of Hiruzen's teeth grinding. "What do you want?"

"Don't worry. You won't hear from us. Naruto will return in time for the graduation. Farewell."

With that, the figure disappeared, vanishing in a swirling singularity. Hiruzen sighed. What lay at his feet were the remnants of many a plan, all of which would have to be recalibrated for the lack of three of the villages top jounin. He had just got up to call Tower security when the upper half of the body of Phantom became visible again.

"Uh… By the way, those three are not dead. Ja ne!"

…

…

…

"Jounin of Konoha, I, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, have a dire announcement."

The gathered crowd muttered, clearly unhappy with the start of this emergency meeting. This was an unexpected announcement, and to a ninja, unexpected meant trouble, hurt, and death. And now that the Sandaime, always so collected, was pacing on the spot, visibly agitated, the news had to be bad. Konoha was not yet ready for another war…

"Yesterday, at 23:12, there was an attack on the Hokage tower." Gasps echoed around the hall. "Three ANBU operatives, known to you as Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, and Uzuki Yugao were seriously injured in the attack."

The muttering increased, mixed with exclamations of disbelief. All three were A-Rank ninja, with both Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi being borderline S-Rank.

"I myself escaped injury by pure accident, there have been no casualties reported as of now. The attack was carried out by a single ninja, identified as the mysterious S-Rank missing nin, known only as Phantom."

And now the crowd was getting jittery. The Phantom was a famous topic among Konoha Jounin, having surfaced around six-months ago in River country, taking down a pair of A-Rank missing nin with ease, the Shiromaru Brothers of Kiri, noted user of the Katana and Suiton users. The Konoha team in the vicinity had been utterly ignored, while the pair of missing nin had been cut down with a single unknown jutsu. The three jounin in the squad, all veteran's of the Third Shinobi War, had been adamant on their return that this Phantom was even faster than the Yondaime.

"During the attack, our jinchuuriki, 7-year old Uzumaki Naruto, has been captured and kidnapped. The loss of our jinchuuriki cannot stay secret for long. With our strength halved and our jinchuuriki lost, Konoha is open to attack. Therefore, as of now, I am declaring Konoha to be in a state of emergency. All gates are to be closed; all ninja on long term non-vital missions are to return immediately. Both Toad Sage Jiraiya and Slug Princess Tsunade are to be recalled, effective immediately. Konoha will be closing its gates for the coming two years, until our military has regained our strength of before the Third Shinobi War. The daimyo has been informed. Clan Laws are pushed to War status; all retired ninja are to be ready to take a trio of final year academy students under their command. The academy is to move to its wartime footing. With Konoha so weakened, we could be seeing the next Shinobi War." Hiruzen sighed. "May the will of fire shine bright forever more."

…

…

…

Two figures were moving across the underbrush of a lush, wet, forest. One figure was tall, thin, and dressed in a concealing cloak, with a hood and a black ceramic mask. The other was short, with a shock of bright blond hair, with a reddish lump on one shoulder. As they walked, the shorter figure turned to the taller one.

"Deva, how long to the base?"

"A minute." The taller figure, Deva, stated monotonously, obviously not very interested in that particular topic.

A short silence.

"Did everything go as planned in Konoha?"

"As I reported earlier, everything went as planned. Konoha has probably already declared wartime status." A scoff. "That Sarutobi was always a lot more conniving than others knew."

The shorter figure laughed, seemingly delighted. "That old bastard would probably kill himself if he knew he was working into our hands." The face twisted in sudden malice. "I want to see him _burn_ for what he did, but it's so much fun to give them just enough rope to hang themselves with, isn't it?"

Deva simply nodded, expressionless. "Naruto, we're here."

Naruto bounced excitedly to the entrance. Then he turned and stared at Deva. "Well, aren't you coming?"

Deva simply sighed. "You didn't disable the traps, Naruto."

"What do you mean, traps? Ahh!" In an instant, Naruto was hanging upside down from a rope around his ankle, poisoned senbon spewing at him from around him. "Amaterasu!"

As Naruto dropped down, Deva merely sighed again, and shook his head. "Only you, Naruto. Only you would use Amaterasu to burn a rope."

Naruto straightened up, face muddy for a moment before water coalesced around him, carefully cleaning him and leaving him bone dry. "Well, I'm on good terms with her, so why not?"

Deva sweatdropped. "That's not the reason Naruto… Oh never mind." Deva groaned into his hands. Stepping forward, he went through a series of hand signs, before the whole entrance flashed blue. "There, traps disabled."

"You know, you really should take off the mask and cloak. It's creepy."

Deva started shedding his cloak as the pair walked inside the concealed building. "Isn't that why you selected them, Naruto? And you really should learn to look before you leap."

Naruto turned towards Deva, as he unstrapped his mask. A pale face came into view, thin, with high cheekbones, prominent blue eyes, blond hair that fell in bangs on either side of his face. A face with prominent piercings on his face, with piercings on his nose, ears and eyes.

"Isn't that what I have you for?" Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Dad?"


	6. Dead Men Walking

**A.N. **This chapter was huge! I hope this clears up many questions left in the previous chapters. I have taken some artistic license with the idea of the Six Paths of the _Rinnegan_. The kanji for rest described is the 休, . I thought it would be poetic.

As usual, criticisms, positive or negative, are welcome.

_Disclaimer : Naruto, and its characters, belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Chapter 6 : Dead Men Walking_

Six Months Earlier

A thought floated in an endless space. It had no identity no sense of self, and no sense of space, or time. The thought simply kept floating in this endless expanse. It had no memories; no memories of it doing anything other than floating. An outsider would have described the existence, if it could be called existence, boring but that phrase had no meaning to it. As would the concept of an outsider.

The thought was hungry. It didn't know why it was hungry, or for what. It had simply always been hungry, and it felt that it would always be hungry. After all, time was not something it was familiar with.

Suddenly, then thought felt a pull; it was getting insistent, pulling it along. And then it was in front of it. The thought had never encountered another entity; it had thought it was unique. Now, meeting with this strange new creature, it felt the stirrings of a strange feeling. "_…curiosity…_" Its mind whispered, faintly, like remembering something lost a long time ago. '…time? feeling?' What was happening to him? …Him? Just where were these foreign thoughts coming from?

It decided that it didn't like this new creature; it was strange and it made him feel strange. But try as it would, the entity kept getting closer and closer to it, until they were almost… touching?

This close up, the… ball of light… that was the entity was enticing to the thought, with its pretty pulsing and its gentle colour. How it could perceive colour would have puzzled it before, but not now. Not when this strangely hypnotizing thing was in front of him. He… it… he was sure that he was a he. Why couldn't he remember?

He was being pulled into the great pulsing ball of light, and he felt parts of him assimilating into it. Strangely, he felt content. He had, finally, understood what the hunger was, and it was being fulfilled as he let the great ball of light swallow him.

And in a vandalized underground crypt, with torn off preservation seals surrounding him and hard stone below, and a small blond haired kid sitting on his stomach holding a glowing palm to his head, Minato Namikaze awoke with a gasp.

…

…

…

Naruto had just obtained the _Rinnegan_ a month ago. His control over the complex doujutsu, however, was shaky at best. This was because of the simple fact that doujutsu came with an inbuilt avatar, that allowed their full use, though most doujutsu users would never even meet them. However, the trace of divinity in Naruto's chakra was causing him problems, since the avatars would meet him personally.

His first meeting with an avatar had gone badly… After all he had met the creature during his test, and it had been most reluctant to let him pass uncorrupted. How the _Sharingan_ had got his suppressed negative emotions in him, he still didn't know. 'Probably something to do with the Kurama', he mused.

However, he had destroyed that soft speaking snake, leaving the mechanics of his _Sharingan_ directly under his control, but that was as much an advantage as a disadvantage. Sure, he could unlock the _Sharingan_ much faster and it no longer strained his mind during use, trying to warp it. But it also lacked the 'training wheels', so to speak, that the _Sharingan_ avatar was responsible for. Therefore, he had to manually learn the jutsu embedded into the higher levels of the _Sharingan_, the invoking of the gods, such as _Amaterasu_ or _Tsukiyomi_, or even _Susano'o_. This meant of course, that all he had to recreate the techniques were Kurama's descriptions, which were really not helpful, and the descriptions of their use, which were incredibly hard to find. Not to mention as a civilian, one too young to even be an academy student, and the hated jinchuuriki to boot, he couldn't just walk around the village requesting information on forbidden Uchiha Clan Hijutsu. So far, fiddling with the _Mangekyo_ had only given him one avenue of experimentation, and it surely did not lead to any of the known _Mangekyo _abilities.

The second avatar, which preferred to be called Kurokitsune, was a rather strange creature. Being in charge of the _Kitsunegan_, it was the most self-centered, arrogant, and capricious being Naruto had ever had the displeasure to meet. It was moody, and often demanded tributes in exchange for information, usually in the form of a prank on a person of its choice. However, underneath the exasperating exterior lay a strange innocence that Naruto could not help being drawn to. Overall, Naruto liked the creature, and he really didn't want the headache of trying to learn the techniques of _two_ different doujutsu at once without help, especially seeing that there were absolutely no written records of the _Kitsunegan_ techniques; the Fox Clan were just efficient that way. In another bizarre twist, obtaining the _Kitsunegan_ had a rather unexpected side effect; one that neither Kurama nor Kurokitsune had expected. One of the Fox Clan's unique Hijutsu, known as the _Seductive Body Transformation_, had travelled back with the doujutsu, leaving Naruto with the rather embarrassing ability of being able to physically transform into a rather attractive fully functional girl. The problem arose when fiddling with his newly unlocked doujutsu, when he accidently activated the ability, and was locked in a female body without knowing how to revert. The begging he had had to do to Kurokitsune, and the mocking laughter of Kurama, wouldn't be forgotten soon, if ever. The blasted fox had held onto the technique for 3 days, which had spent in the woods unable to face civilization, before it finally 'took pity' on him in exchange for an unlimited favour.

However, the _Rinnegan_ was unique among doujutsu in that it had not one, but seven different avatars, named Tendo, Shurado, Ningendo, Chikushodo, Gakido, Jigokudo, and Gedo. They represented the six realms of life, representing the God, Demon, Human, Summon, Preta, and Naraka realms respectively, with the Gedo being a way around all of these realms.

So far, the only avatars that would accept him were Tendo and Ningendo, due to the simple fact that he belonged to both the realms in question. Shurado and Jigokudo were neutral towards him, though deferential to Kurama, while Gakido, and Gedo were actively hostile and quite headache inducing. Chikushodo refused to even see him. And of the ones that accepted him, only Tendo would allow him to wield any power. The power could be forcibly taken, and Naruto had thought about doing it, but the hassle involved in learning the abilities from scratch made it a very unattractive option.

He had, by now, broken into many different 'secure' buildings in the village. In his quest to get descriptions on the Mangekyo abilities, he had already broken into both the Hokage vault in the tower and the Naka Shrine of the Uchiha, and the Hokage Vault's jutsu repository had proved a true boon, what with the uninhibited jutsu spanning that defined his open arena battles.

Remembering the heist of the Hokage vault brought a smile to his face, as that had been when the first of his Mangekyo powers emerged, when he was surprised by NE grunts of Danzo.

_FLASHBACK_

1 Month Earlier

Naruto was doing what he did best, on the 12th October of the 128th year of Konoha. This activity, in which he was absorbed at 4:30 in the morning, was hiding in a cubby hole in a side street in the slums of Konoha's Northern district, or so thought the ANBU following the boy through the streets. It was the monthly outing at the orphanage, and as no caretaker wanted to be saddled with the 'Demon', he was, as usual, thrown summarily out of the front gates with a dire warning not to show his face before 8:00 in the night. As was customary for these outings, Sarutobi had sent a team of ANBU, 8 in total, to shadow him through the village.

The boy in question though, was also at the opposite end of the city from his guard. Naruto was currently within the old sewer system established by the Shodaime as an emergency evacuation system, now abandoned. Normally uninhabited, the tunnel's were perilous to traverse, blueprints having been lost a long time ago. That was not mentioning the modifications done by various others, turning the tunnel system into a proper labyrinth. At the time the ANBU were watching him cowering in the slums, he was directly under the Hokage Tower's jutsu repository. He was also buying bread in the main street as a 13 year old orphan refugee, working as a waitress in a nearby bakery.

The fox's lesson on creating 'Avatars' of himself, a technique usable only due to the increasing divine tint in his chakra, was extremely useful in this endeavor. However, like all divine skills, it was also extremely unsettling. The avatar technique differed from the typical ninja clone techniques in that it was real. The technique did not divide just the chakra, it divided his very mind. Whenever he used the technique, he felt like he was a hive mind, as he was simultaneously receiving the sensory input of all the bodies of him in use. He did not generally use this technique, the disorientating feeling, coupled with the weakening of the seal of his divinity, made this technique generally more trouble than it was worth, at least until he truly ascended. However this was no ordinary robbery he was attempting, and his alibi had to be secure, and he had to have a safety net, so that he could _Shunshin _to escape if there was any increased activity in the tower.

The main body, as Kurama liked to all it, was in the process of using his Deva path abilities to carve out an entrance without alerting the Tower. He would have attempted earth releases, but the floor of the Hokage vault was secured against any elemental jutsu. The only reason Gravity release worked was because it was not, technically, an elemental jutsu, being a borderline divine technique, thus unencumbered by the security seals. The target of this Heist was the Jutsu Repository in the Hokage Vault, where the Hokage store all Jutsu stolen, traded, manipulated, cajoled or tricked from other countries. These stores could only be searched with the Hokage's permission, and that was only given to Jounin and ANBU. And Naruto wanted the secrets they stored.

Finally breaking through, the boy whose eyes had been flashing metallic purple suddenly became crimson with 3 tomoe on the edge of each iris, appearing to slowly rotate. The boy, who looked lanky for his age, as if he had been subjected to an early growth spurt, slowly emerged from the tunnel he was in. The first thing to appear was sunshine yellow locks framing an angular face with six prominent markings on his face, arranged to look like whiskers. This was followed by a lithe body, resembling that of a 12-13 year old rather than the 6-almost 7 year old he was. This was the _Material Henge _that he was using during the missions, being strong enough for the stresses of combat while nimble and agile and… dare he say, small?... enough to avoid opponents and sneak around. He was dressed in a dark blue long sleeved shirt, black pants and shinobi sandals.

Panting, Naruto looked around and frowned.

"That was pathetic. I'm definitely out of touch with the basic gravity manipulation."He looked at the towering shelves, which extended to the ceiling almost 4 metres high, in shelves filling a room as large as a small training ground. "Well I definitely can't do this by myself. "

"_Divine Avatar Technique"_

There was a distortion in the air, and a reddish blood mist appeared, issuing from his hands. The blood soon began to coalesce, forming indistinct lumps, which then gained colour, exposing 10 figures with blond hair, with luminescent _Sharingan_ blazing in the darkness. Naruto looked at the one in front, differentiated from his fellows by the bright red shoulder stripes on his clothes.

"Heya, Captain!" greeted Naruto while looking over the men. "Just go round, memorize the jutsu in the scrolls."

This was one difference he had made in his avatars. In order to prevent the multiple perspectives from overwhelming him, he had rigged a method to temporarily disable the feedback. Though he suspected that he could, in the future, be able to withstand the mental pressure of multiple perspectives in an enclosed space, he was just not there yet. Currently he was mind connected only to the lookout avatar, the 'waitress' at the restaurant on the street opposite the Tower. The others' memories would come later, as a package.

**_"_****_Start copying, you useless codfish!"_**

Naruto was shaken from his thoughts by a yell. "Huh! What the hell!"

**"****That was your 'captain' avatar, godling," **Kurama chuckled. **"Takes after their creator, don't they?"**

"Oh, shut up." Not even Naruto knew how that happened. Apparently, sometimes avatars take on certain personality traits of their creators, and much to Naruto's continuing ire and Kurama's unending amusement the leader of any shot term avatars he created had the unfortunate tendency to inherit his dramatic bent that he ruthlessly suppressed in himself.

While his clones were pillaging the repository, Naruto slowly backtracked, eyes a metallic purple as the earth was pulled back into place behind him. The clones trapped in the repository barely spared a glance as continued opening and closing scrolls.

…

…

…

He had barely had time to adjust to the curved walls of the tunnels when he heard the first footsteps. How had been discovered?

He had been obviously careful to monitor troop movement in the Hokage Tower, and with the shared sight of his 'waitress' henged avatar he knew that there was no alarm. Therefore, he concluded, whoever was snooping around the tunnels had about as much authorization as he did; i.e. none.

Plastered against the wall, Naruto suppressed his chakra as a procession of black clothed figures swept past him in single file. It was ANBU! Had they noticed his presence after all?

But wait… That was not the typical ANBU uniform. Naruto would know, after all they had spent years trailing his movements whenever he was outside the village, rather ineffectually at that. These figures were dressed in standard ANBU gear, with white porcelain masks that were blank except for the kanji for NE on their forehead. That was what finally allowed Naruto to identify the procession.

These were the NE ANBU, the private army of Shimura Danzo, village elder of Konohagakure. One… Two… Three… Four… That was a team. He had to get out before another group could come.

**"****You better get out quick, kit. You just got saved because of luck. If there was a sensor there…"** Kurama was unknowingly mirroring his thoughts. He was undoubtedly in enough control of his own chakra to escape notice from a normal shinobi who was not actively searching for him.

However, the inherent properties of chakra in prepubescent bodies made higher attempts at chakra suppression futile. The reason for this discovered by the famed medic, Tsunade of the Senju, in her medical research during the Third Shinobi War when she found that all prepubescent combatants were getting themselves ambushed at every turn. She had found that bodies of children naturally give out chakra pulses, similar to a tracking seal, because their chakra networks were minutely changing in the process of growing. This did not stabilize until the body underwent the first growth spurt.

Therefore, if a sensor shinobi, one who was naturally receptive to pressures in the chakra fields around them, passed him, he would definitely be found, and that had to be avoided at all costs. His face was not masked, and Shunshin, which was basically a high speed movement technique, was less than useful in the cramped tunnels, he had no bladed weapons, and other the camping jutsu _Fire release: Small Stream_,he had no jutsu that could be used in the tunnels. Lightning release could not be used in the tunnels, as they were lined with metal; it would be merely electrocuting himself. Water release needed a source of water, which was nonexistent here; for the first time Naruto was wishing that this was an actual sewer. Earth release he had regrettably not found many jutsu for, and the Wind releases he had were all blunt damage, which would, again, alert the people on the lower levels of the Hokage Tower. As for his Bloodline abilities, the _Kitsunegan _was all but useless in direct combat at his current level, he had none of his _Mangekyo_ abilities yet, and as for his _Rinnegan_, he had only the Gravity release and Soul Release abilities, courtesy of the Deva and Human paths.

*Slick*

Naruto, preoccupied with the lack of his combat prowess, barely ducked the blunt-tipped ninjatō that was speeding towards his neck. As it was, if it wasn't for the sword rubbing against the sheath, he would have been dead… well, as dead as the god of death could be. From where he was, crouched on curved wall of the tunnel, he spotted two more NE soldiers, one with his sword drawn, and the other, a kunoichi, was rushing him with a pair of dai kunai. He activated his _Mangekyo Sharingan_ to use his fledgling genjutsu skills to divert her attack and get some breathing room to plan an attack, but the swordsmen pulsed his chakra though his partner's body, dispelling the illusion before it even took hold. Before he could even move, the dai kunai wielding kunoichi was within his guard, her kunai inching towards his exposed throat…

Suddenly, he was not moving of his accord. Looking on, a passenger in his body, he felt an immense pain in his right eye, and he heard a scream, coming out of his own mouth.

"_UZUME!"_

Silence.

Suddenly sagging, Naruto found himself in control again, and he looked at the attackers, trying to understand what had happened. There he saw something confusing, his attackers were frozen. Not stopped their movement, but frozen in time. It seemed to have happened to the very space around him; he could barely make out dust motes frozen in the air. The question was, was he frozen along with them?

Testing it, he found that he could move. Then the fact that his right eye was bleeding registered, and his heart lurched. He had obtained the first ability of the _Mangekyo_!

Quickly taking advantage of the fact that time seemed to have stopped, Naruto rushed forward, grabbing one of the dai kunai. The NE agents couldn't be allowed to live, that much was certain. Then he pondered what to do. He obviously couldn't outright kill them either. That would simply alert Danzo that there was something beyond his control here.

"Kurama, what can you tell me about this?" Naruto questioned, impatiently looking for a way out.

**"****Fascinating…" **Kurama's voice was odd, he seemed almost awestruck.

"What?"

**"****Fascinating… it seems to have stopped time in a bubble around you, and only you." **Kurama's voice was contemplative, but a sliver of excitement escaped that made Naruto's skin crawl; even though hailed as a walking natural disaster, Kurama was, at heart, a researcher and a scientist. Therefore, as unenviable as it was, Naruto was his test subject. Naruto sighed; sometimes it was hard to knock Kurama out of his contemplative thoughts, even in the middle of a crisis.

"You _do_ know, Kurama, that I meant the NE grunts?" Naruto's voiced, irritated. He really had no time for this; this seemed to be a quite commonly used route as far as NE shinobi were concerned, and Naruto had absolutely no intention of getting caught in the tunnels, by either Sarutobi _or _Danzo.

**"****Oh about that… how would I know?"**

Kurama was being deliberately unhelpful, it was like he wanted Naruto to get caught…

"Oh, you bastard!"

**"****What?" **Kurama's voice was the epitome of innocence; Naruto would have been suspicious, even if he had not been immediately.

"You want me out of the village, don't you?"

**"…"**

"You can tell me, you know."

**"… ****I just don't like seeing a divine being scorned by mortals." **Kurama huffed indignantly.

"… right." Naruto drawled, amused at Kurama's tone. "Well, I won't leave the village right now, things to do you know? But probably within this year the village will see our backs, for a minimum of three years. Cool down time enough for you?"

**"****Fine. As for the unfortunate dilemma you ****_somehow_**** managed to find yourself in, it is also a marvelous opportunity."**

"What do you mean, Kurama?" Naruto was puzzled. This was an all-round bad scenario; Danzo could be an incredibly annoying pest to him in the future if he knew that Naruto was more than he seemed. He knew that only his mask of stupidity and naivety had kept him from being a target of his recruitment drive.

**_"_****_He means me, master."_** Naruto knew that voice, he had heard it enough in the last few days.

"Ningendo! What do you mean?"

**"****I didn't know you were this dumb, Naruto," **Kurama rebuked, **"You learned the attack of the Human Path."**

"Oh."

Naruto walked up to one of the frozen figures and placed his hand on their head.

"_Rinnegan_!"

_"…"_

**"…"**

***Thump* **

***Groan* **

Even through the mind link, Naruto could hear Kurama facepalm. **"Oi! Did you listen at ****_all_**** when I taught you about doujutsu?"**

"Doujutsu… doujutsu… Oh."

Naruto blushed. "You mean that I can't use more than one doujutsu or doujutsu related ability at the same time?"

Kurama sighed. **"Yes. You are currently using an ability of the ****_Mangekyo Sharingan_****, so your eyes are locked as the ****_Mangekyo Sharingan _****until the technique is over. Which should be in about… 15 seconds? Have fun!"**

"Kurama!"

The demonic fox's howling laughter ringing in his head, Naruto nevertheless managed to tie the two NE agents thoroughly using a couple lengths of high grade ninja wire he had 'liberated' from one of the Konoha Emergency Munitions Depots scattered around the city.

**" ****And 4… 3… 2… 1… Now!"**

The _Uzume_ wore off. For a moment, there was nothing. Then, with a muted '_whoosh_' there was a breeze blowing through the tunnels as normal time reasserted itself. With a sigh, the two NE agents settled in their bonds, unconscious from the chop that Naruto had delivered to the base of their necks.

Naruto sighed. "Well, might as well get this done with."

Standing in front of the female agent, Naruto took a moment to contemplate the futility of the poor girl's life. Looking at the blank expressionless face, he found himself, unexpectedly, feeling pity for the brainwashed NE agent. 'I'll look her up later; try to see what I can do.', Naruto thought as he prepared to kill the prone girl. After all, since he was going to kill the girl, he was effectively bringing the girl under his domain, wasn't he?

Oh well. He had to finish this before the next patrol arrived. Removing the mask, revealing curly brown locks and startling green eyes set in an unnaturally pale face, Naruto placed his right palm on her forehead, directly above her 'Third eye'.

"_Divine Art: Human Path: Soul Manipulation: Soul Assimilation Avatar Technique_!"

From the girl's open mouth, a fine white mist appeared, drifting along with his hand as Naruto pulled it away. A similar whitish mist issued from his forehead, meeting and mixing with the girl's essence, when a third mist, pink this time, collected the other mist and coaxed it away from his hand. Slowly the mists coalesced, slowly growing and hanging shape until the NE agent was there, sans her mask, looking down upon her own dead body, totally devoid of expression.

"Agent 6342, Codename Tsume, awaiting instruction."

Naruto's lips curled in slight disapproval. "At ease, Avatar Tsume. Do not impersonate the victim in my sight."

The avatar's green eyes flashed cerulean for a moment. Then, she drawled, "Understood. When would you prefer I initiate mind link, and what content should I transfer? I am assuming you would prefer the memories of said deceased agent not be transferred."

"Of course not." Naruto stated brusquely. "If Danzo's brainwashing sticks, I would prefer it be in an accessory mind that can be… _pruned… _if necessary."

Naruto's eyes glinted malevolently. "I trust that you will not give me a reason…"

The avatar's eyes widened slightly, before she regained her emotionless demeanor. "Of course not, sir," she stated, echoing her creator.

Naruto smiled, showing off his rather sharper than normal canines. "I see that you understand."

Turning his back to the pair of NE agents, one his avatar and the other dead, he repeated the same maneuver with the sword using shinobi, who had been tugging futilely at his bonds.

The sword user avatar walked forward to introduce himself. "Agent 6374, Codename Tanto, reporting for duty."

Naruto regarded the facsimile of the now dead NE agent. "You are, until further notice, under the command of Tsume. You are to infiltrate the ranks of NE, find weak links in the command structure and personnel, and gather any links that the group may have with the legitimate command structure of the village. You are not to take part in any direct sabotage unless given the explicit order by myself. You will receive orders through Avatar Tsume, regarding any change in the parameters. Fare well."

As the avatars sped off to start their lives as pseudo-loyal members of the NE faction of ANBU, Naruto looked at their retreating selves and allowed a tiny, malicious smirk to adorn his face. Then, deliberately turning his back to the retreating figures, he knelt down, retrieved a pair of scrolls from his clothes, and sealed the bodies away. Replacing the scrolls in his clothes, he leapt away, eager to peruse the information pilfered by the avatars left at the vault.

…

…

…

It had been a productive day for the young presumptive divine. He had successfully infiltrated a Level-5 security clearance building, he had stolen around 2500 jutsu that had (rather ironically) been stolen by Konoha, and he had infiltrated the seedy underbelly of Shinobi Konoha.

As he finished absorbing the memories of the, by now dissolved, avatars trapped in the vault, he looked up, contemplative.

The pair, Naruto and Kurama, was currently recovering from the excitement of the heist and subsequent near beheading by squirreling away in the heart of the tiger infested territory of the infamous Training Ground #44.

Said fox was currently the size of a horse, all nine tails out and slight demonic killing intent rolling out of his currently comatose body, an unfortunate necessity when claiming prime tiger territory as their own. After all, this was an area where even that pineapple-haired weirdo that frequented this forest did not tread lightly.

"Hey Kurama, what do you think of this jutsu?" Naruto enquired from the fox. Silence answered him.

"HEY FOX!"

There was a… yelp?... and the gruff voice of Kurama answered him, sounding deeply annoyed. "What do want kit, I was asleep!"

Ah, yes. The fox was grumpy. As he always was for some time after any tiger challenged him to the right to the territory. All the blood spilt in what was essentially their recreational area often annoyed Naruto. On the other hand, as Kurama often pointed out, if he fancied going native, he probably would never run out of tiger skin loincloths. Though Kurama had never explained the thought process that led to _that_ particular observation.

Anyway, should he… nah. Kurama was fond of sleeping during the day, and it had become a sort of hobby for Naruto to wake him up at random times.

"There's no need to get mad, you know" Naruto huffed. "I was just asking you what you thought about this jutsu."

**"****Hmm… Let me see… ****_Shadow Clone. _****Chakra constructs… Fragile… Chakra intensive – Huh. What do they expect, it's visible solid chakra!" **Kurama scoffed. **"Morons…"**

**"****Interactive… Scouts?... Nin-Genjutsu Capable – That should be obvious… Memory transfer… WHAT!"**

Naruto merely grinned at the fox, who had, by now, picked up the chakra construct of the scroll that Naruto had materialized using his _Sharingan_ memorization. Holding the scrollby one tail, Kurama was holding it lazily in front of his rather impressive snout.

**"****Kit… do you realize…"**

"Quite clearly, Kurama. It's clear enough, especially with my reserves."

**"****Well, this will probably advance the agenda by about 3 years, wouldn't it?"**

"Uh… Yeah. Thereabouts… Probably."

_END FLASHBACK_

Now, one month later, Naruto was planning another break-in, this one probably even more risky than the Hokage Vault heist; the Hokage Crypt. The location of the Hokage Crypt was a secret only known to four individuals in the village, protected with incredibly complex fuinjutsu formulae. The four individuals in the know, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and the enigmatic ANBU Commander, Codenamed Dog; were bound by an old soul seal of the Uzumaki Clan, created by Uzumaki Mito during the Nidaime's reign for her husband's crypt.

The crypt stored the bodies of the deceased Hokage, completely intact and preserved by swathes of preservation seals wrapped around their bodies. This crypt also stored personal effects of the deceased, such as the Yondaime's coat and tri-kunai, the Nidaime's Head Protector and the Shodaime's Weapon Scroll.

It had truly been a mere stroke of luck that had led Naruto to the crypt. One of the avatars in the Hokage Vault had seen a peculiar scroll half tucked in to a pigeonhole in the wall. Opening it had shown him an encrypted message that the avatar had memorized with the _Sharingan_ out of curiosity.

It had taken Kurama almost three weeks to crack from when Naruto had first shown him the message, but the grumbling of the fox and its constant irritation in the process had been worth it. Naruto had the location of the crypt, and how to bypass the security seals of the crypt. It had amazed Naruto that such a damaging document was out in plain sight, but he supposed that it was some sort of emergency scroll in case of invasion or some such.

Anyway, here he was now, at the Konoha Heroes Memorial Stone, found in the woods on the outskirts of the Training Ground 7. Fielding a set of reinforced shadow clones (which were remarkably easy to create with the help of the _Rinnegan_; simply create the Shadow clone with a set of regular durability seals woven into the structure) to prevent any surprises and provide a cordon, with an avatar 'Captain' at the head, he simply walked up to the memorial stone, cut open his palm, and pressed his hand to the spiral in the leaf symbol that was engraved at the head of the memorial. Holding the bloody hand steadily on the stone, Naruto intoned, "The Great Tree shall prevail. From Growth in Chaos to Chaos in Growth, from Light in Darkness to Darkness in Light, from Indifference of Adulation to Adulation of Indifference, from Death of Peace to Peace of Death. The Great Tree shall prevail."

With a screech of stone on stone, the stone neatly split around the middle revealing a wooden stairway leading underground, away into the woods. Giving a cursory glance at the surroundings, where the clones were ensuring that no one was nearby, he ducked inside.

The passageway was small, made of dark wood, probably ebony, with minute carvings of the Konoha leaf adorning them, and small seal powered lights flickered intermittently. It constantly sloped downwards and turned to the right in an ever increasing curve, ending in sight with a dead end covered in Konoha leaves even tinier than the ones on the wall. Naruto had to admire the Uzumaki clan's ingenuity in sealing; according to the instructions, each miniature Konoha leaf carving concealed a seal. Most of these seals activated safety systems, and in order to get through he had to activate password seals set in various positions of the wall at the dead end, in the proper order, and within a certain time frame.

"Let's see… Ah."

"…When"… "The tree"… "Leaves"… "Dance"… "One"… "Shall find"… "Flames."

Naruto took his hand off the last Konoha leaf he had given a password to. "Now pause for one minute, then…"

"The fire's"… "Shadow"… "Will"… "Illuminate"… "The village"… "And once"… "Again"… "Tree leaves"… "Shall bud anew."

With each correct password, the leaf in question would light up with a soft blue glow. The lights connected, the leaves combined formed the kanji for 'rest' on the wall. With the last password, a door opened, not at the end of the tunnel, but near the beginning, leading off _under_ the training ground and back into the forest.

Naruto grinned. "Neat. Though maybe it was a bit stupid using one of Shodai's greatest sayings as the password." He made a dismissive noise in his throat. "To each their own, I suppose."

The passage led to an enlarged room, resembling a large hall. There were stone slabs in two columns, with an aisle in between. The first two on the right were occupied, with the personal effects hanging on the wall behind them. On the left, only one was occupied, but the second had a plaque on it 'Sarutobi Hiruzen'.

The first on the right had blue drapes around him, and a strange head protector and a fur lined coat, as well as a set of blue armor adorned the wall. Alongside it was a stand clearly meant to hold a sword, but it was empty. On the side of the slab facing the aisle, kanji had been drawn, making the number '2'.

The first on the left had red drapes around him. His wall contained a few portraits, a giant scroll, a set of red armor and a large, knife like sword. Beside his bed was a potted plant that had been obviously grown using Wood Release, as when Naruto approached it, it shivered in place, both leaning into him and shying away from him, due to the presence of both Divine and Demonic chakra in his body. His slab had the kanji for '1'.

The second on the left was empty, adorned with brown drapes. A small plaque notified that the slab belonged to 'Sarutobi Hiruzen'. A set of shuriken adorned the wall, as well as an old chunin flak jacket.

The second on the right was decorated in yellow. The wall contained a white short sleeved coat with red flames on the edge, and 'Yondaime Hokage' written in kanji between the shoulder blades. It also contained a set of rather unique kunai, all with wooden handles and three blades, the Yondaime's tri-kunai.

The three men were lying on the slabs, swathed in preservation seals, and they were the target of today's break-in. First, he went to the Nidaime, a tall pale man with white hair. Tearing off the preservation seals, he proceeded to undress the man. Following that, he started utilizing the _Rinnegan_'s _Banbutsu sozo_ (Creation of All things) to create rods of chakra reactive metal, which he proceeded to attach to specific points in the Nidaime's anatomy, as per Kurama's instruction.

Finally, he powered up Yin natured chakra up in one hand and, straddling the dead body, placed the glowing hand on the man's forehead. This was the part that had been tricky, as Gedo had been difficult to convince.

_"__Outer Path: Life Release: Inner Path Separation Technique: Human Path!"_

The light in Naruto's hand intensified, slowly seeping into the prone body below. As the light was absorbed, gradually the body its colour, and it twitched. Naruto got off the slab, all the Yin chakra having been absorbed, and watched as the body slowly came alive. Then, with a shuddering gasp, its eyes flew open, and suddenly Naruto could see through three sets of eyes instead of two.

Naruto chuckled. "Hello, Ningendo."

The revived body of the Nidaime did not answer, but Naruto had not expected it to. After all, it was an extension of his own body that housed part of the powers of the _Rinnegan_, and in fact he could see his main body form the words, and hear them though Ningendo, at the same time that he spoke them through his main body. That would take some getting used to. He could also feel the steady, minute drain of chakra as the chakra rods implanted in the body transmitted and received it.

His own body had the chakra rod antennae; without it he wouldn't be able to communicate with the paths. However, instead of obvious rods, his took the shape of an oriental dragon tattoo that curled its way up his spine, which was made of tiny pin-like chakra rods embedded _under_ the skin. He would have to do the same to his paths some time later, but currently the process took too much time to be viable.

Silently he commanded Ningendo to take his place beside him, as he slowly walked over to the next item of interest, the Yondaime's body; the one he had predetermined to be the best host for his Deva path, being his father and all.

Once there, he fell into a routine, repeating the process that he had done to the Nidaime. Attaching the chakra rods, he noticed with a hint of incredulousness that the gaping hole that should have been present in his torso was not. So they had repaired the body.

After attaching the chakra rods, he prepared to initiate the same technique as before. "Hey Gedo, are you ready?"

Only a grumble answered him, but he felt the technique initiate in his end. Again holding up a hand covered in Yin chakra, he intoned, _"Outer Path: Life Release: Inner Path Separation Technique: Deva Path!"_

The Yin chakra started flowing steadily into the body, and Naruto had just stopped holding his breath, when the Yin chakra absorption spiked erratically.

"Gedo, what the hell is happening?" Now, Naruto did not usually curse, but he had no desire to destroy his father's body and the stress as making his irritated.

"I don't know!" Gedo's panicked voice answered him, "Shall I cut off the technique?"

They were interrupted by a growl. **"Don't you ****_dare_**** stop the technique halfway, the consequences will be dire."**

"What do you mean?"

**"****Tell me, have you heard stories of undead, you know, zombies and the like?"**

"Yeah, what does that have to – Oh."

**"****Oh, yes. Unless you want your father to end up a zombie, complete the technique. We can worry about consequences later."**

The Yondaime's body began to convulse, then it suddenly ceased. Naruto kept looking at it with wide eyes, his hand still lit up in Yin chakra. Then, with a gasp, Yondaime's eyes shot open, but to Naruto's consternation, he had to actively concentrate to see through the Yondaime's eyes.

Meanwhile, the Yondaime was looking around the room, seemingly mesmerized. Then he saw the small boy straddling his chest, and stared.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat, getting back into the calm state of mind that had characterized him when he was Hokage. "Hello, I'm Namikaze Minato, nice to meet you. Why am I alive, why am I naked and why are you on my chest?"

Naruto stared back, dumbfounded. He could faintly hear the fox laughing in his head.

**A.N.** I can't believe that I'm doing this. However, in a strange twist, I find myself doing the very thing that I had once sworn that I would never do. This is it.

Please Review!


	7. Of Spiderwebs and Crazy Goddesses

**A.N.** Well, here it is. The seventh installment of The Prince of Souls. This installment highlights one of the main differences between an ordinary _Mangekyo Sharingan_ and his, that have been hinted in the previous chapters.

As usual, any and all criticism is welcome.

_Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. NE belongs to Shimura Danzo. _

_Chapter 7 : Of Spiderwebs and Crazy Goddesses_

Two Months Later

It was night, prime business for the Blunt Nodachi, one of the many shinobi-oriented bars to be found in the North East Sector of Konoha, which was where the clanless shinobi often took residence in. Built in the centre of one of Konoha's most populated districts, the Blunt Nodachi was one of the landmarks of Konoha Shinobi, and often venerated as such.

Founded late in the Shodaime Hokage's reign, the old bar had seen life in all its varying flavours. From new appointed genin, flushed with victory and ready to take on the world, raring at the bit to abuse the privileges of their newly found adulthood, to disillusioned shinobi, drinking away their woes after losing their comrades, suffering a debilitating injury, or simply seeing too much, all the way to the old veterans, the few shinobi who had enough sense to know when to quit, gathering around to natter on about their experiences to the new genin who had come to experience the novelty of alcohol. The Blunt Nodachi had the patronage of all, and it treated all equally.

It had seen many strange things in its admittedly long existence for a shinobi bar. It had been here that the Shodaime had first foisted off his paperwork on his brother Tobirama, the soon to be Nidaime. It had been here that Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had had their last public row, before Madara went rogue. It had been here that the newly appointed Nidaime had come to drink and weep about the paperwork inherent to the position of Hokage. It had been here that Jiraiya and Hatake Sakumo had their famous dance-off, resulting in Sakumo being forced to abandon his trusty facemask and Jiraiya being forced to wear geta for the rest of his life. It had been here that the Sannin had their first public breakup, and it had been here that Orochimaru cried in public for the first, and last, time. It had been in the Blunt Nodachi that Gai had had smiled his only true smile, and it had been in here that young Sarutobi Asuma had screamed at his father before he left to join the Twelve Ninja Guardians of the Daimyo.

But never had the old bar seen a group quite this strange, as the group that had taken residence in the room 7. Said group consisted of the following; a seven year old human who was death-god presumptive _and _had a demonic entity sealed inside him, a chakra clone of said sealed demon who just happened to be a fragmented deity, a reincarnated Kage of the Village who just happened to be the father of the aforesaid seven year old _and_ have a portion of said seven year old child sealed in him, the dead body of yet another Kage of the Village which was the puppet of the consciousness of the seven year old, and an irritated goddess who just happened to be the many-great grand aunt of the seven year old.

And the atmosphere of their private booth was heating up.

"No means NO, great-aunt!"

"Oh shut your trap, you little brat. I was talking to your father. I swear, Susano'o nii-san had much more sense than you would ever have."

"What did you say?"

**"****Looks like the brat is a little deaf as well, eh, Amaterasu-chan." **Kurama, the size of a house cat and lying comfortably on Minato's shoulders, interrupted Naruto rudely with an aside to Amaterasu.

Amaterasu absently nodded, then paused, developing a tic in her brow. "Don't call me –chan!"

As the enraged goddess prepared to roast herself some fox, a sweatdropping Minato attemped to interfere, unknowingly saving the existence of the old Blunt Nodachi. Though if he did it to save Kurama, or because Kurama stood on his shoulder, meaning that _he_ was liable to get caught in Amaterasu's rage, the spectators, in this case Naruto, did not know.

Regardless of his intentions, he came between the gritted teeth of the goddess and the smirk of the fox on his shoulder. "C-Come on. Let's all calm down, shall we."

**"****Shut up, Minato!" **The shout came from both sides of him, from the fox, and from the goddess who seemed quite ready to release her limiters to smack down Kurama. It was this that Naruto interrupted, when he uncharacteristically pouted at the lack of attention he was getting. When even that failed getting the attention of the adults, he had had enough.

The others were disturbed from their three-way deadlock by a pair of hands slamming onto the table. "I still say no, Amaterasu baa-chan!"

The other males in the room stiffened, then slowly, mechanically, turned towards the goddess. The goddess who had stopped glaring at Kurama, to instead turn towards a petrified Naruto, her eyes glowing like the hot sun on a summer day. Amaterasu smiled sweetly at Naruto, who had just realized what he said, and was sweating bullets as he tried to dig himself out of the hole. "I m-mean y-your b-beauteous, y-young l-looking, uh… y-yes, y-young l-looking…"

"_What_ did you call me?"

Minato looked at the imminent homicide, and deadpanned at Kurama. "… I pity you for getting sealed inside him."

Kurama did not answer immediately, instead choosing to stare at the beating that Naruto was receiving with a haunted look on his face. **"…It's your fault."**

…

…

…

One Day Before

It was dark in the abandoned Konoha Sealing Chamber, on the outskirts of Konoha. The imposing structure, created entirely using a single carved out block of granite, had been commissioned by the late Uzumaki Mito in order to serve as a lab for fuinjutsu research. However, it had soon fallen into disrepute with the lack of use of the dying art; the youngest person with any fuinjutsu ability beyond making exploding tags, which were basically just deliberately unstable tags, was the cyclopean jounin, Hatake Kakashi. With the only regular user of fuinjutsu in the village, Jiraiya the Frog Sage, out of the village indefinitely, for all intents and purposes Konoha was devoid of sealing experts. Which was exactly why its current squatters, which were two Hokage, one reanimated and the other revived, chose the place as their headquarters. Of course, of the two squatters, only one actually lived there; the other just lay around being the dead body that it was until Naruto could actually use it.

Currently though, there was just one visible inhabitant in the cave discounting the Nidaime's dead body, and that was a seven year old that was currently busy turning the air blue with his swearing.

**"****Really, Godling? While it is terribly amusing to listen to what you are going to do to your own eyes, ****_I_**** am trying to sleep. So please, pretty please, stop shouting before I come over there and kill you!"**

_And_ that was the second entity, of which the only thing to be seen were a pair of incredibly crimson eyes with slit pupils that glowed in the gloom of the cave. Who was promptly ignored as the seven year old continued to yell at current subject of his ire, his eyes. More specifically, the _Mangekyo Sharingan_ that adorned his eyes. The sound of teeth gritting followed a growl, before a small, lithe form slinked into the dimly lighted area of the cave. The figure was that of a fox, sporting a blood red coat and nine furry tails that swayed hypnotically behind it. And it had a tic on its brow, its claws were cutting gouges in the granite floor and its jaw was clenched.

**"****Na-Ru-To!"**

The swearing figure turned around to look at the fox, a demented expression on his face.

"Leave me alone, Kurama! This is your fault! Your bloody pink eyeis the most bloody useless piece of crap bloodline ever – Yooooow!"

**"****That should teach you to badmouth ****_my_**** creation,"** Kurama huffed as he spat out Naruto's blood from when he had savaged his leg. **"That you are entirely too stupid to understand the magnificence of the ****_Mangekyo Sharingan_**** is in no way my fault."**

Naruto stared at him. "Tentacles," he stated flatly.

**"****Oh, come on! Kit, you promised!" **Kurama yelled, his tails converged to cover his behind and his mouth.

Naruto was about to make a witty comeback when he was interrupted by a new voice. "Now, now, children. Stop fighting or you get a time out." He smirked "Though I'll _really_ like to hear the story about the tentacles."

"Hey dad."

**"****Why won't you die already, you bloody blond bastard?" **Kurama mumbled through his tail.

Minato smirked at Kurama's greeting, while said fox had stopped glaring at Naruto to glare at Minato, still covering his behind with his tails, showing clearly that he was _not _Kurama's favourite person. "Eh, you know, tried that – got boring pretty fast. Plus I like annoying you way too much to actually die."

Kurama flicked his ear at him - a sure sign of irritation – and chose to ignore the last sentence. **"How ****_did _****that happen anyway? I mean, if it was simply because of the divine chakra, old corpsy there would also be alive, wouldn't it?" **He asked, pointing one claw at the corpse of the Nidaime that was on a stone slab nearby. **"So how come this idiot came back from the dead to annoy me?"**

Minato also looked intrigued as to the reasons. Naruto merely stopped grumbling and pacing to note, "There are a few indications to the cause."

Kurama and Minato stared at his pacing form, waiting for him to continue.

"…"

**"****Just tell us already, you insufferable brat."**

Naruto stopped his pacing again to speak, "Well, it's rather obvious. How did dad die?"

Minato shared a look with Kurama. "I offered my soul in exchange for the sealing, had my soul torn out of my body. That's what you're looking for, right?"

Naruto sighed. "And who did you offer your soul to?" He stared at the pair, willing them to get it so that he wouldn't have to speak further.

Kurama got the hint first. Naruto could tell when he realized it by the comically widened mouth and the popped out eyes. He was wordlessly pointing between Minato and Naruto, apparently dumbfounded by the revelation. Naruto merely sighed again and started to pace, uttering a muted "troublesome".

Minato was still staring at him, uncomprehending. Naruto stared back, disbelieving, until he met Kurama's bemused gaze. "I can't believe you ever became Hokage," Naruto snorted at Minato, who looked offended by the comment, just as Kurama finally found the strength to speak.

Minato found his voice. "Hey! Naruto, don't you dare speak to me that way!"

**"****Well, I totally agree with the kit,"** Kurama choked out through his guffawing at Naruto's comment. **"Seriously, think, you blond bastard. You give your soul to the Shinigami at the exact same time that the entity that ****_took_**** the soul, for a lack of a better term, died. The Shinigami's fragmentation would mean that he had no time to absorb your essence, meaning that you were stranded in the human world. So you probably stuck around as a fragmented soul, unable to go to the afterlife but not truly alive either, stranded in the Human Realm." **He laughed a bit more at Minato's expression, which was stuck between righteous anger at his son and exasperation at himself. **"Personally, I find it pretty funny that the guy who tore apart ****_my _****essence got his torn apart as well." **He continued grumbling. **"Did you know it hurts when you seal a guy like that, you bloody idiot? I swear, no Uzumaki would have been that stupid."**

"Oh, come on! You were attacking my shinobi!"

Kurama was quick to retort. **"Well I'll like to see you not lash out when, directly after a Genjutsu was removed, you find yourself being attacked! I was disorientated!"**

Naruto simply sighed. Sometimes, living with their bickering was, to parrot the Nara, 'troublesome'.

…

…

…

Later on, as the fox and the shinobi continued to act out one of their frequent arguments, Naruto retreated to the Sealing Preparation room, which Naruto had commandeered upon their acquiring of the base as his office and the map room. In here he could be sure of relative solitude to plan his next move, as his father did not come within fifty feet of the room, in his revulsion of the 'paperwork curse', and Kurama was uninterested in the goings on of the elemental nations as a whole.

The Elemental Nations were in an interesting state at the moment, Naruto mused, as he studied the large map of the continent hung on the wall in his room. Many of the countries were coming out of their respective battles and strengthening their armies, but many of the countries were not yet in a position to directly wage war yet. Therefore, most countries were scrambling to strengthen their defences, streamline their command process and root out traitors. It was also the time when promoters of various agenda came out of the woodwork, and silent coups took place. This was also the time when people selected sides, and smaller villages created coalitions to withstand the might of the militarizing great five. However, this time, there seemed to be something out of the ordinary as far as the militarization went. The anomaly were the plentiful missing-nin that currently dotted the landscape of the Elemental Nations currently, often leaving trails of destruction in their wake.

The missing nin population in the elemental Nations had burgeoned in the years following the Third Shinobi War, and in a stark contrast to the previous war aftermath scenarios, they had not been hunted down. The reason for this had been simple; the Third Shinobi War had been much more exhausting to the shinobi villages than the two previous wars, and the respective villages had not had the manpower in the midst of their own respective crisis' to track down a few deserters. Even Konoha, which had emerged relatively unscathed, had not escaped this; they had barely started the tracking of their own deserters when the Kyuubi attack had forced all personnel to return to the village.

Thus shinobi as notorious as Orochimaru the White Snake of Konoha, Sasori of the Red Sands of Suna, Hidan the Sacrificial Murderer of Yugakure, Momochi Zabuza the Demon of the Mist, Hoshigaki Kisame the Tailless Tailed-Beast, and Kurosuki Raiga the Thunder of the Mist from Kiri, Kurohana of the Granite Chain of Iwa, Kohaku of the Yellow Lightning of Kumo, were roaming the countryside, along with shinobi who had never been officially declared missing but were not in contact with their original villages such as Senju Tsunade the Slug Princess of Konoha, Utakata of the Six Tails of Kiri, Han of the Steam of Iwa, Kuromaru of the Forge of Kiri, and Ryuu the Floating Hermit of Kusa.

This meant that the Elemental Nations were currently on a lit fuse, with ambitious leaders looking to further their own ambitions and errant powerhouses wandering around wreaking havoc. This was what he intended to harvest. The abundance of selfish leaders would keep themselves busy, while his subtle machinations would keep any one side from overpowering the other. Meanwhile, his subordinates would gather around, creating support. But that wouldn't happen immediately; he needed time increase his own personal power, not to mention his ascension and all the problems _that_ would bring. After all, the Deva Realm wasn't a very peaceful place either.

Anyway, he needed to focus his attention right now onto one specific location; the Land of Fire. Situated as it was, with its rich natural resources and its central location, it was the primary target of many nations vying to increase their power. This naturally meant that they were constantly under threat of invasion, and as loath as Naruto was to admit it, the attempts had been as low as they were solely due to the efforts of the Sandaime Hokage. However, now that Naruto was trying to cut out his own part of the landscape, the first thing he had to do was to reduce the influence of the Sandaime Hokage in the Land of Fire. Naruto was playing for keeps, and he _would_ see the end of this!

The first salvo in his plan had been carried out by his father just recently, which was the decimation of a Suna team and an Iwa team in the Ishigakure - Iwagakure border. This meant that a diplomatic incident was imminent, which would probably include Suna distrusting Konoha and accusing Iwa, Iwa accusing Konoha, and turning away Suna's attention to Iwa instead of Konoha. This would lead to Konoha losing the official support of its only ally in the Five Great Nations, Suna requesting more aid from Orochimaru in preparation for an upcoming war with Iwa delaying Orochimaru's own plans regarding Konoha, and Iwa delaying opening its borders even further. This would hopefully delay plans all round, as he hoped to keep each nation off balance and unready to fight in the years to come.

…

…

…

He was at the Main Sealing Chamber, it was around 6:30 pm, and he was starting to think that his eyes would pop from excess chakra before he ever completed the task.

Seriously, the_ Mangekyo_ was the most uncooperative doujutsu ever.

When he started the attempt to summon the flames of _Amaterasu_, he had been fairly optimistic of his chances to do so by the end of the month, at least.

Until now, all he had accomplished was to scare Kurama _and_ Minato so badly that they would no longer come to the tests. Kurama had yet to forgive him for the tentacles.

From what he had found out, the _Mangekyo _functioned simply as an extraterrestrial summoning, summoning objects from across dimensions and across time. Usually the bloody thing would have a limiter, a certain set of frequencies that the _Mangekyo_ was limited to summoning. Now however, after destroying the avatar of the doujutsu, those limiters were gone, leaving his _Mangekyo _an open antenna.

Honestly, the fact that the _Uzume_ came to him was a minor miracle in itself, as was the fact that he could replicate it later. He suspected the deity herself had some hand in it, though why she would bother was a mystery.

However, he had had many unexpected summoning in this chamber, from summoning a gigantic creature with a reptilian head and flippers (what sort of name was _Nessy_, anyway?) to summoning the tentacle monster that had scarred Kurama, and him, for life.

Oh, well. Might as well try again.

He pushed chakra into his eyes, and felt the now familiar feeling of time slowing down as the _Mangekyo _worked its magic. Then came, as usual, the activation phrase, and by now he was far too involved to stop. "_Harry!_"

A red beam issued from his eyes, and almost before he had a chance to duck, an ornate sword that had been mounted on the wall slid out of its scabbard and came careening towards him.

What in the name of the Rikudo Sennin?

Whoever that guy he tried to invoke was, that guy had to be suicidal.

He gave an uncertain glance towards the now still sword, before shrugging. No matter, that was still _not _the worst summoning by far. He recalled the tentacles, and shivered.

He glanced once more at the sword, and shrugged. Once more onto the breach!

This time, when he felt the familiar feeling of time slowing down, he also felt an unfamiliar pressure in his mind. Too late to stop now. "_Amaterasu!_"

Finally!

The long awaited black flames issued from his left eye, his right eye closed involuntarily. Then the flames turned white, and were ripped from his control. What was happening?

The now pure white flames were cocooning the clearing, and still issuing from the eye, negating his doujutsu. The flames licked his body, caressing him but not burning. The flames were building up into a pillar of flame in the centre of the room, and the spiritual pressure was increasing.

The first indication that Naruto had that a person was in the flames was the hair. Though the pure white flames he could just make out raven locks that fluttered in the flames. As the flames died down a vision of beauty was revealed to his sight. Long, straight, raven hair fell past her shoulders and framed her face, with ivory white skin suffused in a slight blush, and a face that could almost be described as thin, with piercing golden almond shaped eyes and pouting lips, were the prominent features in the now revealed beauty. She was garbed in a formal peach and crimson kimono, and set in her hair was an intricate golden tiara with a symbol, which was reproduced in the kimono intermittently, a circular symbol made of three black tomoe curled onto each other on a white background. With slight surprise, Naruto recognized the symbol.

It was Amaterasu.

Well, it wasn't like he hadn't anticipated the visit; once a human with divine powers was detected, Kurama had been certain that there would have been a flood of divine entities to see the newest member of their community. He was just surprised that it was Amaterasu.

He stepped forward to greet her, slightly surprised at her unexpected visit, when…

"Squeee! Aren't you my cutest nephew ever! Don't worry, you're aunt is going to take care of you, little cutie!"

Cue facefault.

"I'm going to hug you, and dress you, and make you go on little play dates, and ooh! Let me squeeze your cute little cheeks!"

Sigh. He just _knew_ this was the _Mangekyo's_ fault. Maybe he could get dad to use the _Sharingan_ to mind-wipe him, because –

"Ouch! My cheeks are supposed to be attached to me, obaa-chan!"

For a moment, silence filled the room, everything freezing in place.

A sudden ripple of something like killing intent flashed across the room. "**What. Did. You. Say?"**

As the most assuredly crazy goddess approached him again, this time with a pulse in her brow and a forced smile, Naruto backed against the wall.

"Curse you, _MANGEKYOOOO_**_!_**"


	8. Amaterasu, Sun Goddess

**A.N.** Hello there. Here's the 8th installment of the Prince of Souls. This chapter, as the title suggests, mainly highlights the interactions of Amaterasu with the other members of Naruto's group. This came out rather sappy in my opinion, and for you action lovers, the next chapter will be end of the chapters detailing life in Konoha. So long!

_Disclaimer: Naruto, and all its characters, belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Though if Sasuke is not gay, he may want to run away._

_Chapter 8 : Amaterasu, Sun Goddess_

When Amaterasu had first joined the group dynamic of Naruto's hodgepodge team of tagalongs, he didn't know for certain. However, as the weeks went by, she regularly visited the Sealing Cave, if to annoy Kurama (One of Naruto's own guilty pleasures, he had to admit), pester Minato (In tandem with Kurama), or poke Ningendo on his lonely stone slab. (Naruto… Didn't want to know. Seriously.)

Amaterasu was turning out to be quite different from what he had imagined her as. From her cooing over Akane's 'cuteness' and 'exotic looks', teasing him for 'bagging such a cute girl for a priestess' whenever she came to report, to her oddly bipolar behavior and odd sensitivity over her age, she was the proverbial 'riddle, wrapped in mystery, in an enigma'.

She changed moods like lesser beings changed clothes, Naruto had noticed wryly. She was quick to anger, quick to forgive, prone to resorting to physical assault in order to solve arguments, but just as quick to heal any hurt she saw. She was almost… childlike.

And for some reason, for which he was sometimes grateful, but mostly just bore with the air of a condemned man, the childlike Goddess had decided that she wanted him, like a child wanting a toy on a shop window.

After her attempts to get Minato to give permission to take him to the Deva Realm, where her home was, failed, she had resorted try different methods of persuasion, hoping to get Naruto to agree.

Naruto had, much to his own surprise, found that he did not mind the small 'competition' between them, of holding out until the other gave up. In fact, Amaterasu's antics helped liven up the rather dreary cave, which Naruto used almost exclusively to finalize his planning.

That had been one other thing that had endeared the childish Goddess to Naruto. She was, for all the short time that she had spent with the pre-pubescent God-presumptive, incredibly protective of Naruto. It was as if she had decided that only she could hit him or beat on him in any way.

_FLASHBACK_

"Gods, Demons, and Men," Naruto groused, slowly recovering from yet another beating for calling her old, "you really hit hard, Amaterasu-chan."

Everybody in the compound called her Amaterasu-chan, except for Kurama, for whom she only responded without violence to Amaterasu-san. That fact had been cleared pretty quickly. Amaterasu would not tolerate anyone else using any other suffix. The use of honorifics such as –sama or –san or –dono or –omikami was dealt with a cuff around the head and a cold shoulder. If familial relation or age was implied in naming her however… Naruto shivered. Joints just weren't meant to be bent that way!

A gentle caress of his hand brought him out of his minor mental breakdown. He looked at the hand that had touched him; a hand with thin elegant fingers tipped with glittering golden fingernails, leading up a slender, pale arm to a slightly concerned face. For the millionth time, Naruto wondered how a woman that acted so childishly cute could have such depth in her eyes.

It was the eyes that had initially led Naruto to believe that the childish behavior of Amaterasu was an act. Now, having spent time with her, Naruto could decisively refute his initial theory. She was naturally like that, Naruto had found. Pleasant childish cute girl one moment, monster that could make the great Kyuubi no Youko retreat the next, and incredibly insightful concerned friend later on.

"Ne, Naruto-kuuun," her soft, lilting voice whispered, "what's bothering you now?"

I truly was hard to believe that this was the same person that had torn him apart a few minutes ago for calling her baa-chan. Not that she looked it, of course. He truly didn't know why he kept taunting her with her age – the beatings over the last two weeks had long convinced him that it was a bad idea. Maybe he was a closet masochist?

He sighed. He really needed to stop thinking in tangents so much. "Nothing really, Amaterasu-chan," he sighed.

She merely pouted at him, her heavily coloured lower lip protruding even further out while looking at him with large, soulful eyes. He didn't even know that puppy-eyes were _possible_ with glowing bright yellow eyes!

"O-Oh! All right! All right! J-Just stop pouting at me! I'm just worried about the orphanage," he admitted, breaking under her pleading eyes. Eyes which, he now realized had become a lot less pleading, being more hard chips of citrine that tore through his soul with her gaze.

"What is happening there, to make you concerned?" Her voice was lower pitched; Naruto realized that she truly was concerned.

"Okay already, troublesome woman, just let me explain" Naruto grumbled. 'Maybe I have some Nara blood?'

The citrine glare had not shifted, and Naruto was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Seriously, stop it with the stare. Anyway, if you are done trying to act like a slighted Uchiha-"

"Hey!"

"-I was telling you of the problems in the orphanage. I've told you before why Sarutobi placed me there in the first place, didn't I?"

A nod.

"Anyway, it seems like lately Sarutobi's been losing his touch. Placing me there, with everybody and their dog knowing where to find me might have been his plan to keep me servile, but it seems to have misfired due to his own puppet, Danzo."

Naruto smiled strangely; it looked like a strange expression between triumph and apprehension.

"Tanto's report got dumped into my head about an hour ago," Naruto answered Amaterasu's unasked question. Who raised an aristocratic eyebrow in response. "Danzo's been funding a small _operation_ in the orphanage, ironically called "Beat the Demon", which basically consists of bribing the older kids to beat me up worse than usual, make the orphanage a living hell for me, you know, the basic stuff, so that I would jump at a chance to get into the NE group when they come to recruit me. I _had _thought they were being more vicious than usual. He's trying one of the oldest tricks in the book. You know, the basic carrot and stick method? And if I go willingly, they could cover their tracks and make it like I disappeared, Sarutobi would know what happened but be powerless to stop it, and I would end up being Danzo's 'loyal weapon', to be pointed at anything he wants me to do. Though I suppose, if I hadn't met Kurama when I did, there's a possibility that I might have actually enrolled to become one of Danzo's emotionless puppets. Huh. Funny how it works out, isn't it?"

Amaterasu had been holding his hand throughout his explanation, and he had to accept that it _was _comforting. Not even him, with his somewhat blasé attitude towards his own life, (Hey, he was a god… somewhat? Anyway, it mattered, really!) would like walking into a trap with his eyes wide open, and contrary to what his teasing of Amaterasu might suggest, he did not enjoy getting beaten to within an inch of his life, even if he didn't actually die due to Kurama assisted regeneration. Then, a few scant seconds after his little monologue had finished, her hand suddenly tightened around his wrist painfully. Then Amaterasu had leant against his shoulder, and her face was almost on his. The golden eyes seemed to stare into his with some strange emotion; an amalgamation of pride, sorrow, fear and anger.

When she spoke, her voice came out in a whisper. For some reason, it reminded him of smoke, fire… a muted flame, a freezing conflagration. His developing male intuition was telling him that there was an extremely angry woman next to him, only the instinct that it was not him kept him from bolting. "And exactly _what_ do you mean by 'beating me up worse than usual'?"

"Well, I'm not very well liked in the vicinity, you know," Naruto started out lightly, and even Amaterasu reluctantly snorted. "So when I was in the orphanage, I would get picked on a lot. Not badly; in fact there was not much problem for the first two years. Then of course, the chief caretaker got replaced, I got moved out of the overcrowded nursery, and the beatings started. Not harmful at first, simply the alpha male thing that most children do when they meet. But soon enough, the children began to catch on to the fact that hitting me, hurting me, stealing from me when they could, never seemed to prompt a response from the caretakers like when they did them to others." Naruto grinned. "Not that they would do that often. Even back then, I was pretty sneaky, and from as far as I can remember, I've been fast."

Naruto subconsciously rubbed circles in Amaterasu's hands, still grasping his own. They were very dainty, he noticed, so pale and fragile looking. So engrossed with her hands was he, that he was caught off guard when he was suddenly pushed forward.

He was off balance, and he instinctively brought his hands up to use _Shinra Tensei_, the gravitational repulsion technique of the Deva path, to repulse what was surely a surprise attack…

He was in an embrace. As his startled senses tried to regain control of the situation, he noticed that he was folded into a hug by Amaterasu, his face being pushed into her neck as she tightened her hold on him.

"Uh… Not that this is uncomfortable or anything, but… can't breathe!"

As the hug let up, Naruto was quick to inch away from the embrace, instead choosing to look at Amaterasu's teary face.

And then he was pulled into a hug again. "I'm not going to talk you out of it." Her voice was even, resigned, but the tremble in her voice and the involuntary brightening of the torches surrounding her gave her away. "I'm not going to talk you out of it," she repeated, "Just tell me why it's so important, why are you so willing to get beaten up to further your goals, why are they so important to you, why can't you just forget this whole mad scheme and come live with me at my home in the Deva Realm; you'll be happy there, Naruto-kun!" Her teary eyes were pleading, her face was flushed, and the begging in her voice just about broke Naruto's heart. Still…

"You know I can't do that, 'terasu-chan," he implored, looking at her. "No matter what happens, I will fulfill my goals. That I was created in this corrupt shinobi world, just when it is about to erupt into chaos, surely you don't think it is a coincidence? I will stabilize this world, 'terasu-chan, and I will protect it like my forefathers before me. I will regain my ancestor's, your brother's, honour. I will bring peace to the great realms, 'terasu-chan, and I believe in that that dream!"

Amaterasu looked into his eyes, and she must have noticed something, for she gave a rueful grin. "Just as stubborn as my brother," she said reminiscently, "but nowhere near as irritating. It wasn't that I doubted your resolve, Naruto-kun, but I fear for you."

"No, not for your existence," she clarified at Naruto's startled look. "But what you may sacrifice to get there. If you are set on your path, promise me one thing?"

"Anything, 'terasu-chan." Naruto was surprised to find out that he really meant it. He knew that he and Amaterasu had grown much closer during the last few weeks, but this trust in her blindsided him.

"Promise me you'll wait for me at the end of this journey, with a smile on your face and no regrets?"

"I will, 'terasu-chan. I will."

_END FLASHBACK_

That evening had heralded the dawn of a new group dynamic that left Kurama annoyed and Minato puzzled, as whenever Amaterasu came to visit (which was, at least, three times a week) she would hardly stir from Naruto's side.

In the beginning, it had led to teasing, led mainly by the ever suicidal Kurama, since he never seemed to get that earning the ire of a person who could presumably use any jutsu ever created, and a bona fide goddess, could be counted as suicidal behaviour, even for a technically immortal vulpine demon. However, after _many_ chakra clones had been destroyed in increasingly violent ways, the group had learned to ignore the burgeoning friendship between the two divine beings.

And so life continued in the Sealing Chamber of Konoha.

…

…

…

She was Kurama Akane, Shinobi Registration No. 12494, Genjutsu and Support specialist of Team 11, of Konoha. She was the daughter of the Branch House Head of the Kurama Clan, also of Konoha. That much was common knowledge, as was the fact that she was extremely extroverted, the fact that she was considered a disgrace by her clan, and that she, to put it mildly, hated her team. She made no secret of this; she considered their sensei an annoying braggart, and her teammates stuck-up brats.

But she had a secret. During the evening, when the team training was over, but before she was missed at the clan compound, she had another life. One where she was no longer the untalented genin branch house member of an almost forgotten clan.

That was what she was right now. Kurama Akane, Head priestess of the Order of Uzumaki, Divine Gifted, and apprentice of the Sun Goddess. And while that did sound good, she was currently just a step away from getting homicidal.

When Naruto-sama had first introduced her to Amaterasu-sama, she had been ecstatic to study the divine arts under the Sun Goddess herself. She had liked Her, though a bit childish in her behaviour, Amaterasu-sama had seemed very likable, what with her accepting to teach her.

Now though, she had to accept one particularly disturbing thought. Amaterasu-sama was a sadist.

*Whoosh*

Cursing under her breath as she dodged yet _another_ lance of light spearing towards her, she amended her previous thought. Amaterasu-sama was _the_ sadist.

When she had been offered special one-on-one training with one of the Great Gods, this had certainly not been what she had expected. Amaterasu-sama's favourite method of teaching seemed to include throwing the hapless trainee into the wilderness and attacking them at will, brushing aside any counterattacks as if they were simply flies.

"Dance for me, pwetty pwiestress!"

And there was the baby talk.

Panting, she hid behind one of the plentiful trees that dotted the landscape. Before it disintegrated in a shower of golden light, drawing a line of blood on her cheek. That had to be premeditated, she knew; Amaterasu-sama never ever missed when she really wanted to hit you.

Amaterasu called out to her again, as she scrambled to find cover from the Goddess on the warpath. "Stop hiding, li'l pwiestess, that's not going to help you!"

She did not answer her; in her first session she had, and had had a coin sized circular hole through her torso to show for it. Of course it had taken Amaterasu-sama only a second to heal it, but it had nevertheless left a deep impression on the young shinobi/priestess. Replying to the taunts of a vastly superior opponent was _not_ a good thing.

As the exercise progressed, the constant state of paranoia was beginning to erode on her self-control. When the tree she was cowering behind disintegrated again, she lost it.

Now this was not the first time she had tried this particular maneuver, and until now, it had ended the same way; crack her illusion, wave of golden light, unconsciousness. However, this time she had decided on a far more ambitious approach.

Breaking out of the cover of the trees, she ran straight towards Amaterasu, who, to her credit, did not appear to be surprised by the unorthodox maneuver. On the contrary, she appeared almost amused.

Snapping through a series of hand seals, Akane intoned, while running towards the stationary Goddess, "_Divine Release: Chochinbi Senbon_"

Thin, lance like structures made of ethereal blue flame instantly came into being around the Goddess. Akane savoured the look of pure shock that adorned the aristocratic face of the face.

Then, with a thunder-like bang, a golden shield enveloped the goddess who had still not moved; indeed she had not moved from her spot at all during the whole exercise. Before she could even think, the Goddess disappeared. Was she above? Below? Behind-

While she was preoccupied with searching for the Goddess, she felt the air shift in front of her. Turning around, she was just in time to see a delicate foot capped in an elegant golden sandal slam into her face. The world went black.

…

…

…

Amaterasu watched the face of her newly appointed apprentice as she lay on a moss covered boulder surrounding the Sealing Cave. The sun was low in the sky, and the waning rays of the sun, always brighter where she manifested, shined in the neon blue halo that was her student's hair. A purpling bruise was visible on her face; Naruto's little priestess would have to go to Kurama to heal the bruising. She had never been interested in much more than field medicine; as long as they did not exhaust their essence, Gods could not die, merely disintegrating only to reform later on. She could heal battlefield injuries just fine; however cosmetic healing was beyond her. Complex healing had always been Tsukuyomi's interest, not hers.

…

…

…

Everything was fuzzy, her head hurt like the day after she had stolen that sake bottle from her father, and there was insistent throbbing in her jaw. A harsh light burned against her closed eyelids, irritating her enough to wake her from her uncomfortable slumber. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she found herself looking up at the Sun Goddess' profile, thrown into relief by a floating iridescent flame, and silhouetted against the starlit sky. It took her a bit longer to identify the location. They were on one of the gigantic trees that Konoha and its founder, Senju Hashirama, were famous for, which still dotted the landscape in the forests surrounding Konoha. The Goddess in question was sitting on one of the plentiful horizontal branches, her feet hanging off the branch and cradling her body in her arms. She was staring into the distance seemingly looking at nothing, and in a nearby branch she saw Naruto, also staring into the distance, and the winds that blew through the branches seemed to intensify around him, ruffling his hair and causing his shirt to sway in a continuous breeze. It was a surreal moment, and the soothing silence seemed to be almost sacrilegious to break. However, the fact that she was being treated like an overlarge plushy by a Goddess aside, she was pretty uncomfortable.

"Ehem!"

"We already know you're awake, Akane," Naruto spoke without turning his head. Then he held the ram seal for a second and concentrated. "I've called Kurama, he'll be here soon to heal that nasty bruise.

That done, he proceeded to slouch against the large trunk of the tree, the very picture of laziness. Akane wanted to speak, but she didn't dare interrupt them again. So she continued to act like a large plushy, wishing something else would break the silence.

It was broken by a monotonous voice. "Let her down, 'terasu-chan."

"Huh?"

Akane would later swear that she saw Naruto's lips twitch in amusement. "_And_ now we know why you're not the Goddess of thinking."

Amaterasu pouted. "Don't be so mean, Naruto-chan."

She definitely saw it that time, Naruto's lips twitching in an effort to laugh. Personally, she didn't know why he bothered. The God was stoic enough as it was when not in the company of Kurama and, recently, Amaterasu. If he controlled his emotions much further, he would become a Hyuuga or Uchiha, and if that happened, divine powers or not she was turning in her priestess job. She didn't want an anal-retentive god!

*Humph!*

She was interrupted by an indignant snort. "I'm not a stoic, and I'm definitely _not _anal-retentive! How can you think such things about your God, Akane?"

She twitched. She felt like sinking through the floor and not coming out till she died. She was just starting to ask exactly how he could listen into her thoughts when –

"You do know that if you die, you'll simply back in my care, don't you?" Naruto's voice was laced with amusement, she realized. He was teasing her!

"And why were you listening to my thoughts, you pervert?" As soon as her words slipped out she realized what she said. Squeaking with horror, she slapped her hands on her mouth.

A throaty laugh filled the treetops and the Sun Goddess' body shook against her. "Only you, Naruto-kun," Amaterasu stuttered through the laughter, "Really, getting called a pervert by a girl even before puberty." She shook her head in mock sorrow as Akane 'eeped' in embarrassment. "My little Naruto-chan is a pervert;" she moaned theatrically, "Oh how will this world bear the burden of another pervert!"

Naruto was steadfastly turning his back to the Goddess and his priestess, probably sulking.

"Oh, for goodness' sake! I'm not sulking, Akane!"

Amaterasu giggled while Akane blushed. "Seriously Naruto-sama, how are you doing that?"

His voice had returned to a monotone when he responded. Staring hard at the stars, he spoke, "You accepted to become my priestess, Akane. When a mortal accepts the patronage of a God, even sealed as I am, it binds them for eternity. I can see everything that you can see Akane, I can hear everything that you can hear. Your memories are mine to see, your dreams, and your fears." He sighed, and as much as Akane was irritated by the perceived lack of privacy, she didn't dare interrupt. It didn't seem as if he was just answering her question anymore.

"I accepted my divinity when I was four years old, Akane. Even though I have not yet accepted the mantle of death god, it will be necessary. And when I do, by familial rights I will inherit the mantle of the God of Storms as well. Being a God is tough; I can see why so many God's care little for humans. We are beyond your comprehension, I am, as of right now, accumulating the sensory inputs from my father, the Human Path, my two root agents three other avatars sent off on errands out of the country. I am currently eating, training, spying on a NE meeting, haggling with a metal trader, walking across the Silk Valley in Earth Country… you get the idea. I see drama from every single side; I hear everything that any of my avatars hear. I might be only seven years old as humans reckon, but I have accumulated more time in total existence than a one hundred year old man. I feel tired, Akane. It's hard not to feel apathetic when you're omniscient…"

While Naruto was speaking, Amaterasu had gotten up, still holding her in her arms. By the time he had finished, she had crossed over to the next tree and was embracing him, Akane sandwiched between them. She struggled for a moment, before giving up. Besides, Naruto was kind of cute when he got all angst.

'Oh, to hell with it. If I can't get free, might as well make the most of it.' She timidly wrapped her arms around Naruto, before contentedly resting her head on his shoulder.

From underneath the pile of limbs that were Akane and Amaterasu, Naruto's muffled voice was heard. "'terasu-chan, I'm sorry…"

Amaterasu simply tightened her embrace. "It's all right Naruto-kun. We've all felt that way at one time or the other…"

Naruto continued, "And Akane…" She perked up, looking up at him.

"… I wasn't being angsty."

Akane sweatdropped.


	9. The Beginning of the Campaign

**A.N. **So here it is. The ninth chapter of the story. Whew!

This chapter refocuses on the current storyline, marking the start of the **Kirigakure Campaign** arc. Also, for those who may be confused by some of the terms used, I am including a small index of sorts at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!

_Disclaimer : Naruto, and its characters, belong to Masashi he can keep them. I for one am not interested in claiming ownership of the Reverse Harem Jutsu._

_Chapter 9 : The Beginning of the Campaign_

Mizu no Kuni, Land of Water. One of the five great lands in the elemental Nations, it is an archipelago, formed from a cluster of islands that are east of the main elemental landmass and west of the distant Land of Snow. Known from before the age of the ninja for the excellence of its swordsmen, the culture inherent to the islands is feudal at best, barbaric at worst. Being the only great land to have a significant waterfront, at the dawn of the Ninja age it became a haven for many water related bloodline clans, making the Land of Water the country richest in elemental bloodline clans, many who survive to this very day, thriving in the harsh environment that is the norm for the citizens of the Land of Water.

The Land of Water is home to one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist. It is home to the only active shinobi navy in the continent. The vastness of Kirigakure, combined with the smallest force of Samurai in a Great Land, make the Land of Water the land most malleable to the demands of the ninja populace within the country.

Mist has, ever since its inception, been a rather militarized village when compared to other villages such as the Leaf. The ninja of the Mist have a reputation of being bloodthirsty and opportunistic, with a long history of turning on their clients at the slightest provocation. They were also known for the practice of sharpening their teeth to sharp points, abundance of sword users, prevalence of hair colours in the blue shades, and the utter lack of compassion.

Mist received, via treaty with the Leaf's First Hokage, two tailed beasts; Isobu the three tailed turtle, and Saiken the six tailed slug. They have been placed in many different Jinchuuriki in the past, the most recent of which are Yagura of the Mirror, Fourth Mizukage and Utakata of the Bubble Release, respectively. The three tails grants its jinchuuriki the ability to instinctively control water and illusionary mist, while the six tails grants the ability to use explosive bubbles.

The pride of the Village Hidden in the Mist is their group of elite swordsmen, The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who are each gifted one of seven special blades. These are: the Kubikiribocho, a large zanbatou that sucks blood from its victims, the Nuibari, a needle like sword of unparalleled sharpness, the Kabutowari, an axe-like sword designed to breach barriers, the Shibuki, a wide area damage sword that causes explosions on contact, the Kiba, lightning induced twin swords with exceptional piercing power, the Hiramekerai, a shapeshifting sword with twin handles, and the Samehada, a large, sentient, chakra ingesting sword that shaves its victims.

Ever since the start of the bloody reign of the Second Mizukage, tensions had been increasing between natives, and the insular bloodline clans who were thought to be arrogant people with superiority complexes. These tensions soon boiled over at the end of the reign of the Third Mizukage, with the emergence of Yagura, who demonized the bloodline clans, and the attack on Kirigakure by the Bone wielding Kaguya Clan.

In the aftermath of the attempted attack, Yagura was appointed the Fourth Mizukage, who authorized what would soon come to be known as the Bloodline Massacre of Kiri, decimating many long standing bloodline clans and driving others to extinction. When the excessively bloodthirsty behaviour of the Fourth Mizukage became clear to a majority of the ninja of the Mist, it had already been too late; Kiri was deep in the midst of a civil war for the control of the Mist and Water Country. Though the rule of the local Daimyo was never directly challenged, this era saw to the death of four consecutive Daimyo to ninja attacks, leading to general distrust of ninja; however, with his limited power, the Daimyo was powerless to stop the massacre happening on his lands.

It is here we come to the topic of the Kagami Island. Located on the South-East corner of the archipelago of the Land of Water, the island was one of many lands ravaged by the constant civil war and named as such due to its roughly octagonal shape, and the legend marking it as the resting place of the Yata no Kagami, the legendary divine mirror. The site of the Great Battle of Heikegani Pass, this island holds the distinction of hosting the oldest shinobi graveyard in the world, with corpses older than the Hidden Village era itself, though due to its incredible barriers, no one has been able to retrieve any bodies for study. Geographically, the island is low-lying, made mainly of volcanic rock and mudstone, with a scattering of lone peaks and a few sub-tropical forests. During the war, it has constantly changed hands between the rebels and the loyalists, being home to a few cells of rebel shinobi and a fort of the loyalists, making it one of the fronts in a long, drawn out war.

…

…

…

The night was silent at camp Kagami. Only the sounds of crickets chirping intermittently marred the silence at the camp

'This patrol is so not worth the effort,' Daisuke thought as he continued his patrol route with the 3rd Oni Squad. 'If we were under attack by those bloody rebels, we would have heard it by now.'

That much was certainly true. The newest member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and the latest defector to the Bloodline Rebels, Aokaki Kaeru, was certainly no quiet ninja. The leader of the bloodline rebels in Kagami Island, he preferred to announce his presence by creating a riot using his sword, the Hiramekarei, laying waste to a few dozen feet of his surroundings in the process. Not to mention that the rebel infractions had made significant inroads into their troop strength in Kagami, and every team out on patrol meant that their was one less team protecting the base.

"Hey Daisuke, quit daydreaming! I'll like to finish this god forsaken chore and get some sleep…" That was Shimaru, his squadmate and the resident whiner of the 3rd Oni squad of Kagami Island. "I swear boss does it on purpose… Just because I taunted him about losing to Kaeru and his squad doesn't mean that I have to get the graveyard shift –"

Shimaru's whine was interrupted as something blipped to their senses. Quickly reigning in his thoughts, Daisuke signaled his team to halt and take defensive formations, just as the whirl of water that heralded the use of the _Mizu Shunshin_, a jutsu specific to Mist ninja, erupted in front of the team.

From within the whirl of water was revealed a rather intimidating man, known to Daisuke as Salamander, ex-second in command of Mist's Hunter-nin unit, and the current leader of the base in Kagami Island. He stood at 6'2'', a mountain of muscle and sinew. Dressed in the traditional uniform of the hunter-nin, stylized mask and all, this was not a man to cross.

"Hello there, Boss. Still pouting over your loss?" And Shimaru had to open his mouth again. Why did he have to the weirdoes on his team? They were going to be doing graveyard shifts for the next week as well for this. Sometimes it just was not worth getting out bed.

Daisuke didn't notice his superior's arm move. One second, it was hanging down his sides as most shinobi were wont to do when using speed techniques. The next second, it had unsheathed the ornately carved bone ninjato from the sheath that hung around his shoulders and the bone sword's edge was pressed against the – now shivering – neck of Shimaru. A slow trickle of blood seeped down Shimaru's neck.

Salamander grunted, continuing to apply pressure onto the sword. "Prey like you should learn to keep your mouths shut… Unless you want to get eaten?"

Shimaru gulped.

Daisuke's hands curled into fists involuntarily as Salamander continued to threaten his teammate. Though he did not particularly like Shimaru, who he had found was far too noisy to be an ideal teammate, he was still a ninja under his command and therefore, in the end, his responsibility. On top of that was the fact that he and Salamander had a long, complicated history, which mostly consisted of absolute hate for the man. All this boiled down to one thing; he could stand this no more, even if going against Salamander was suicide.

"Salamander, drop the weapon." His command was delivered in a flat, even tone that held only the tiniest fraction of the true terror that he felt when acting out against the bogeyman that was Salamander.

Salamander jerked back in surprise, before he recovered, stepping into Daisuke's personal space, dragging Shimaru along. "So, little piggy grew a spine," the sneer was palpable; "Too bad I have to threaten one of your underlings for it."

Daisuke's fists tightened; if he talked back, Shimaru would become another victim of the Bloodline Rebels in the official records.

Salamander removed the blade from Shimaru's neck, and threw him at Daisuke. Then, looking at the squad, who had yet to move, he growled out, "I want all of you back inside immediately. There's been a… situation."

"Then maybe I came at a bad time?" A gruff voice called out from behind Salamander.

Startled, Salamander whirled around, his ninjato already up in a reverse grip.

Daisuke stared at the newcomer, surprised, even as he heard Salamander draw in his breath, startled. He was looking at Salamander, and he had seen the man appear out of thin air. Now, looking closer, he could see some identification marks on the newcomer. He was relatively tall, with a plethora of piercings adorning his narrow face, half covered in a shock of white hair. On his forehead was a strangely shaped forehead protector with extensions to cover the cheekbones, adorned with the Leaf missing-nin insignia. Finally, he was wearing a furred coat and blue samurai armour that niggled at his memory; he had seen this man before.

The man stepped forward, even as the Mist-nin clustered together in formation. Salamander pulled out his other sword, a wazikashi, and settled into a twin sword stance. "You look like you're a long way from home, tree hugger."

The man regarded the masked Mist-nin, almost curiously. "And you look like you're a jackass. I'm sorry, what are we talking about?"

Salamander stiffened; Daisuke could hear Shimaru futilely trying to stifle his laughter. "Who are you?"

The stranger's face lit up. "Huh. Thank you! I knew no one would recognize me. That ought to teach that mangy overgrown fox to bet against me!"

Then, as the bemused Mist-nin looked on, the man turned his face skywards and yelled. "Listen up Kurama! You're doing the dishes tonight!"

Salamander, as soon as the stranger turned his face skyward, was speeding towards him, aiming for his jugular with his ninjato. Without looking at him, the stranger simply parried the blow with a kunai. Continuing the attack, Salamander swung his wazikashi in a slash to the stomach, but had to abort when, still not looking at him, his opponent swung himself over Salamander's head, almost taking his head off in an overhead swipe.

Salamander came to rest a few feet away as Daisuke's team prepared to intercept, when he signaled them to not interfere. The stranger was still looking at them, still not even attempting to attack. Then suddenly, he held up a half-rat seal and intoned, "_Water Release: Severing Water Wave!"_

Daisuke, his team and Salamander instinctively leapt back as the curving stream of highly pressurized water cut into where they were a second earlier, though they were shocked at the efficiency of the ninja they were facing. Using a B-Rank elemental jutsu with one seal!

They landed in a collective crouch, looking towards the enemy who was… whistling? Salamander gritted his teeth. Again rejecting Daisuke's plea to engage, Salamander grunted, running through seals, "Well if it's a ninjutsu battle you want, it's a ninjutsu battle you'll get! _Water Release: Song of the Dragon!_"

With a roar, water burst from underground springs, gushing in human sized dragon shaped masses that intertwined and flew at breakneck speed towards the ninja, who simply formed a half-snake seal , and intoned, "_Earth release: Apocalyptic Chasm!_" , before going back to staring at the surroundings in apparent interest.

The earth split in front of the ninja, carrying him higher, while a chasm opened up in front of the rising landmass, all the water draining into it.

Salamander ran directly up the crumbling earth rampart. Twisting into a crouch at the top, he launched himself in a manner reminiscent of the _Tsuuga_ of the Inuzuka Clan as he spun towards the attacker, his twin swords whipping around his body. "_Blood Drill!_"

The stranger simply waited for the attack, meeting it headlong. Daisuke winced. This was not going to be pretty.

Salamander barreled into the figure and _through_ the figure as if it was a ghost. Daisuke's eyes widened; if the attacker was truly incorporeal, how could they attack him?

Salamander simply turned with a snarl. Holding his hand to his mouth, he inhaled deeply, dislodged his mask showing off pointed teeth, and intoned "_Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave_".

The figure immediately formed the snake seal. "_Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld_"

The torrent of water pouring out of Salamander's mouth harmlessly drained into the soft earth.

Salamander's face was twisting in fury; Daisuke knew that it was only a matter of time before he snapped. The last time had been in the battle with a rebel squad when they had been able to corner him. The locals still called the area the blood fields two years later.

"That's it. Take this, you punk!"

Growling incoherently, Salamander stalked forward. Daisuke knew that look. "Team, fall back!"

Even while running back, he heard Salamander's animalistic roar. "_Forbidden Technique: Ninja Art: Primal Blood!"_

Jumping back, he was ordering his team to retreat while maintaining visual contact with the battle when his teammates fell over, like puppets with the strings cut. Turning around to face this second threat, he saw that the second enemy was a man of slight stature, dressed in rather distinctive clothes; a Leaf jounin regulation uniform and a white coat adorned with red flames at the bottom. He was also sporting a Leaf missing-nin forehead protector around his forehead, and had blonde hair that was distinctive, even in the dark. This was the famed Yellow Flash of the Leaf, Fourth Hokage who happened to be _dead_, or this was some sort of imposter.

His pondering was interrupted by a blinding yellow flash as he felt a sharp pain in his side; by the time he regained his sight he was kneeling from a non-lethal wound on his side and the Hokage look-alike was cleaning a bloodied tri-kunai.

Falling to the ground, he gritted his teeth and waited for the blow, but it never came. Looking at his blond assailant, he found that his attention was completely focused on the ongoing battle between Salamander and the first Leaf missing-nin. From over here he could hear the echoes of Salamander's animalistic roars; his forbidden technique involved the partial summoning of an animal spirit inside his body. His hand slowly inched towards his pouch; if he could get to a kunai in time, perhaps he could avenge his team…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

At the amused voice, he gave up all pretenses at subtlety, leaping at the enemy's throat with a hand grasping a… stick? As he froze, the blond man casually leaned back, planting a kick straight onto his wound. Daisuke curled up into a ball clutching his side, spitting blood.

"You know, you're really stupid." The blond muttered, looking at the downed shinobi. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have killed you already…"

Daisuke stared back at the blond, eyes wide with disbelief. "D-Did you replace my kunai with sticks in time that you attacked me?" Such speed…

The blond almost _preened_ under the attention. "Of course, I knew you were going to try something stupid. Now please for the love of all that is holy and _not_ my son or Amaterasu, can we watch the fight _peacefully_?"

That said, the man proceeded to completely ignore the gaping Daisuke, choosing instead to lean against a nearby tree as he surveyed the distant fight. Having nothing better to do – his team were all out cold – he decided to join the blond in watching the epic battle taking place before him.

…

…

…

In the artificial clearing created by the battle, the two opponents were having a stare down. One was coolly staring at the other, blue armour and clothes pristine, without any wound, and surrounded by craters and gashes that littered the ground. The other was deformed, his salamander mask shattered, blood dripping down his strangely oversized hands and wetting the ground below. His trousers were tattered, and a single reptilian tail protruded from behind him.

Suddenly, without warning, Salamander started to laugh, the harsh, guttural sound echoing over the clearing. "I never expected to have to go all out on a guy who I don't even know. So, stranger, what shall be the name I would have to put on your tombstone?"

The man smirked. "You may call me the Reaper. And now that that is over, shall we?" Gesturing to the strangely deformed Salamander, he went back to what he had been doing during most of the battle; staying still and presenting a clear target to Salamander.

Roaring a challenge, Salamander leapt forward, slicing at Reaper with the set of sharp claws resting on his deformed limb. As the man-beast flew past through Reaper, he almost absentmindedly brought his other hand in a scoop, clawing through the ground and through the silhouette of Reaper. And then, unexpectedly, Reaper winced.

Salamander turned around, his claws bloody. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" He mocked, gesturing to the trail of blood sluggishly flowing from Reaper's feet, before the invisible wounds steamed as they healed.

Reaper grimaced. "Found that out so soon, did you? I'm impressed."

Salamander simply grinned, "You showed your hand a bit early, rookie mistake. When I saw you turn incorporeal I knew that it had to be some kind of Space-Time Ninjutsu," he shrugged, "I've worked with the Sandaime Mizukage, you know, and he was a master of them."

"You've somehow been turning yourself incorporeal whenever something attacks you, but that also means that a certain part of you is always corporeal," he pointed at Reaper's feet with a bloody claw, "Your feet. They have to remain so; otherwise you would simply sink through the earth."

Reaper gave a rueful grin, scratching his head. The act was so unorthodox that Salamander, Daisuke and the blond near Daisuke all stared at the unconcerned Reaper. "You've cost me a bet," he admitted, "I just _had _to bet Kurama that I would get through the battle without a scratch…" he moaned in despair. "Now he'll make me do the dishes. By hand!"

Salamander made a low noise in his throat, mocking Reaper. "Well you won't have to worry about that, rookie." He sprang forward to re-engage, his hands blurring through hand-seals. "Because you'll die here!"

And for the first time, Reaper responded to the taunt, his face set in an expression of almost comical fury. "That's it! I hate doing dishes damn it! I'm going to kill you, for the glory of unsoapy hands!"

"_Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"_ A lance of spiraling water emerged from the flooded swamp that their battleground had become, spearing towards Reaper as Salamander leapt in its wake. Then Reaper leant back into a strange stance, with his feet placed wide and bent at the knees, and his hands in front of him as if warding off someone. For a moment, triumph crossed Salamander's features, before he paused, and started to retreat.

Reaper was holding his hands in half-seals, his right in a half-dog and his left in a half-rat seal. For the first time in the battle, his chakra flared, an oppressing feeling just pressing on the edge of the senses, just as his left hand formed a half-bird seal.

"_Lightning-Water-Wind Combination: Sky Release: Susano'o's Breath!"_

A swirling, roiling, mass of charged, wind carried mist boiled over the clearing, enveloping the battlefield in a cloud of charged mist just as Reaper shot out of the arena, airborne, and landed on a nearby tree that was, miraculously, intact. Switching his right hand to the confrontation seal, he closed his eyes. "Katsu!"

And then apocalypse happened. The winds were howling, thunder was rumbling, trees were being uprooted. Daisuke barely even noticed as the blond ninja caught him and his teammates to prevent them from getting sucked into the growing tornado that was happening a scant few metres away from them; he was too horrorstruck by the phenomenon in front of him.

Lightning flashed across the clearing, spearing into the ground, as clouds roiled in the sky, disturbed by the hellish scene below. The ground groaned as lightning struck it repeatedly, and a small self-contained storm had formed, never leaving the boundaries of the battlefield.

And then it was over, as if it never was there. Abruptly, all sounds stopped, as a stunned silence swept through the area. Not a leaf was moving; if it wasn't for the utter destruction of the area that had been subjected to that monstrous attack he wouldn't have believed that there had been a full-blown miniaturized storm in there a few seconds ago. Daisuke felt the acidic smell of ozone and burnt flesh emanating from the battlefield. Peering at the battlefield through the hands that he had brought up to his face to shield himself from the lightning flashes, he gazed at the remains of the battle.

At the epicenter of the attack lay Salamander, or what was left of him. His body was twisted, as if he had been thrown down; he had also reverted to his human form. Half of his torso was gone, as was his left foot and his right leg, and his left arm was missing from the shoulder. He was undoubtedly dead. Eerily, there was no blood pooling around the body – The wounds must have been cauterized by the electricity, Daisuke mused numbly.

The blond ninja hollered at the Reaper, making him jump in alarm. "Hey Naruto, don't you think that's a bit much?"

Daisuke looked at the blond. "Naruto?"

As the blond turned towards Daisuke, the so-called Naruto appeared behind him, Salamander's body hoisted on his shoulder. "Now look what you've done, dad."

'Dad?' Daisuke thought nervously, looking from one man to another. 'This Naruto guy is older than the blond!'

There was no chance to sneak anything by them, Daisuke realized with a shudder. What with him hearing the conversation clearly not meant for him, his chances for survival had clearly gone even further down, even though they clearly weren't going to kill his team now. Maybe they were going to hold them hostage? Daisuke scoffed at the thought, the Fourth would more likely send hunter-nin after them.

'To hell with the suspense, I'm a dead man anyway,' Daisuke thought, pondering over the torture the Fourth Mizukage would put a survivor of a team who lost Kagami Island through. If he wanted any chance at survival, he had to bring some important information that he could, hopefully, barter for his life.

"Who are you?" The question tumbled out of his mouth, and he winced internally. He hadn't meant to be that blunt about his curiosity, perhaps the loss of blood was affecting him more than he thought?

The blond had just opened his mouth to answer when the Reaper, who the blond had called Naruto, shushed him. Stepping past the crumpled form of Daisuke, the shattered corpse of Salamander on his shoulder, he gave Daisuke a cold glance that seemed to pierce his very thoughts.

Reaper sighed. "Let's bring him to base."

A sharp blow struck Daisuke's neck, and the world went black.

…

…

…

In the eastern mangroves of Kagami Island, a squirrel stirred, startled by the arrival of a python curling itself around the branch it was on. It was turning to leap into a nearby branch, when suddenly it keeled over and rolled off the branch dead, with a metal spike through its eye.

"Damn it, Chojuro! Don't waste all the senbon!" The voice was young, nasal, and above all irritated as evident by the way it kept sliding to the high notes towards the end. The owner of the voice soon entered the clearing, sticking to the buttress roots of the mangroves with chakra. It was a kunoichi in her late teens, with the dark purple hair held in an elaborate knot over her head by a pair of decorated senbon, and piercing black eyes that were fixed on the dead body of the squirrel, now held aloft by the senbon, which had had its other end jabbed into a buttress root.

Soon the slight sounds of footsteps preceded the arrival of the other members of the party. The first to arrive was a small boy of around 8, with short light blue hair and black eyes, and a slight blush. He was wearing an overlarge pair of crimson framed goggles, through which he stared at the hanging corpse of the squirrel. He grinned bashfully, showing off sharpened, shark-like teeth. "Sorry Hikari-nee, it startled me!"

"And that is exactly why you would be an excellent swordsmen, Chojuro," rumbled a voice as the final member of the team arrived. The man was huge. Standing at well over 6'6'', the man was a mountain of muscles, but it was just as obvious that he was young, probably in his late teens. Short, scraggly indigo hair covered his head, extending to a small goatee. Pink eyes, set deep in the face, stared at Chojuro with an expression of approval.

"And you!" The kunoichi, Hikari, turned on the newcomer as Chojuro and the newcomer winced in unison. "If you continue encouraging him," she gave a creepy smile "we'll be having a small _discussion._" Chojuro and the newcomer shuddered, as she gave what she probably thought to be a sweet smile, but which was somewhat ruined by her shark-like teeth. "So please don't, Aokaki-kun? All that _blood_ will be _sooo_ messy to clean…"

With that said, she nimbly skipped into the mangroves, plucking out the senbon and cleaning the squirrel, absentmindedly stabbing the python that had been trying to slither away, along with the male members of the team. The aforesaid members froze, and as they were trying to look as if they were _not _trying to sneak away from the clearly deranged kunoichi, her voice washed over them, as she called them, a disturbing grin on her face. "And can you boys clean that python for me? Pretty please? I always wanted a snakeskin belt…"

The two shinobi stared at each other in sheer horror, before the elder one smirked. "Well? What are you waiting for, apprentice of mine?" He made a flamboyant gesture towards the direction the python had fallen with the large flounder shaped sword in his hand. "Go, my apprentice! Skin that monstrous creature for the favour of the fair lady! Your exploits will be immortalized forever, so go and –"

He was interrupted as Hikari threw a senbon at him, passing just under his belt, barely missing his private parts. As Chojuro sighed and left to fetch the python, he mechanically turned to Hikari, who had a dark aura surrounding her. "Aokaki-_kun_…" She spoke, irritation evident, "We're going to have a _talk_ when we get back."

Kaeru's scream was interrupted when Chojuro landed in the swamp in an awkward roll, coming to a stop in front of Hikari. As the two older nin immediately went into mission mode they looked at the direction Chojuro had come from, coming face-to-face with a tall, dark haired man wearing red samurai armour and a Leaf missing-nin forehead protector.

The man smiled cluelessly, looking at the three rebel nin before him. "Hello there shinobi-san," nodding at Kaeru, before turning to Chojuro, "chibi-kun,"

"Hey!"

"- and kunoichi-san."

The three shinobi looked at each other. This was obviously not one of Yagura's goons; no one this oblivious could survive Yagura's regime. What sort of enemy performs a textbook sneak attack, only to do no lasting damage, and show himself immediately afterwards?

After a short time looking at each other, Kaeru was chosen as the spokesperson. "Hello to you too, stranger. What are you doing here, and why did you attack our team?"

The man looked at them, and they would have almost believed him to be totally unaware, if not for the mischievous gleam in his strange, purple eyes. "Why, I was just wandering the woods when the tree spirits decided to present me with a feast!"

He held up the carcass of the python. Immediately the two male s looked at each other, then at Hikari, who was almost vibrating in anger. They knew how intense the temperamental kunoichi could get over the slightest things.

The man continued to speak, seemingly not noticing the killing intent flooding the swamp. "Then chibi-kun here decided to take my treat. Really, kunoichi-san, you should teach your kid better manners, what sort of mother are you!"

"H-Hey! I-I a-am n-not h-h-her s-son!" Chojuro stuttered nervously. Hikari had her head down, inaudible growls were escaping her mouth and a dark miasma was surrounding her. And Kaeru…

"Mwa-hah-hah! Oh, that's priceless! Chojuro… Hikari… son… hah-hah-hah!"

Shooting a disgusted glare at the guffawing Kaeru, Hikari turned towards the true recipient of her ire, the interloper. A dark aura pulsed around her as all the males instinctively flinched away, expect for the intruder himself who simply scratched his head. "Uh… Kaeru-san, was it? Why is she acting like that?"

Chojuro and Kaeru stared at the hapless fool who would anger a kunoichi that way.

"_Die!"_ With that, Hikari leapt into the attack. "_Hozuki Secret Ninja Art: Multiple Razor Whips!"_

From her body, several long watery tendrils erupted, hovering around her and spinning as she tried to close the distance between them.

"Whoa! Tentacles, Hikari-san? Guess you're not such a prude after all!"

"Grr! Come here and take your beating, you perverted bastard!"

"Sorry, I don't want to be raped by a perverted kunoichi!"

"Just stay still, you bastard!"

"I will not lose my innocence!"

"Come back, you coward!"

"I knew you couldn't resist my manly charms – Hey, watch where you're swinging that, you almost hit me!"

"Don't worry, I won't miss again!"

As the Hikari continued to chase the intruder around the clearing, Chojuro stared at Kaeru, confused. Kaeru stared back. "What just happened, Kaeru-sama?"

Kaeru was staring at the ridiculous scene. "That, young grasshopper, is what happens when a fool meets a woman."

Chojuro deadpanned. "That can't be it, Kaeru-sama. She meets you all the time and she never acts like that."

Kaeru nodded sagely. "That is true, young grasshopper… Wait, did you just call me a fool?"

Chojuro sweatdropped.

…

…

…

Hikari cursed as the annoying maverick continued to evade her razor sharp water whips, showing a boneless flexibility that alarmed her. More than once either Chojuro or Kaeru had attempted to interfere, but she had halted their advance. Technically, Kaeru could order her to disengage, but he rarely used his authority over her therefore she knew that he would let her continue to fight this menace. He often stated that he had fewer headaches that way. Chojuro of course, though as strong as a genin at the age of eight, was no match for this opponent.

"Damn you!" She cursed as five whips, which she had sent on intercepting paths, somehow managed to avoid even grazing the target, instead leaving her with half her whips entangled. Irritably releasing control over the entangled webs, she absorbed the water back into her body as her opponent dodged a final whip before settling in an alert stance on a nearby buttress root.

"_Hozuki Secret Technique: Water Release: Dance of the Infinite Needles!_"

The water in the swamp below swirled up her feet as it got pulled into her body, only to be released as water senbon spraying from her hands. Looking at the hail of senbon coming his way, the stranger grimaced. "I didn't want to use this so early…" he moaned, before holding his hands in a cross-guard in front of him. "_Outer Path: Chains!"_

Smoky black chains erupted from his arms, before encircling him in a protective cocoon; none of her senbon were reaching the target. This man had some truly powerful defensive jutsu… No matter. She hadn't gone all out until now, but she supposed that this stranger merited that at least.

"Prepare yourself, stranger!" She yelled, running through a long set of hand-seals.

"Call me the Gatekeeper!" He yelled back.

Suddenly, her muscles gained more definition, protruding somewhat grotesquely from her lithe figure. "_Hozuki Secret Ninja Art: Muscular Empowerment!"_

Running forward to re-engage the man who called himself the Gatekeeper, she ran through another set of hand-seals, praying for it to work since she had only recently learned it. "_Water Release: Thousand Lances!"_

What she had done was basically the beefed up version of the rather common technique "_A Thousand Needles of Death"_, only instead of many senbon-like formations attempting to skewer the opponents there was a multitude of large spear heads attempting the same.

As the large water spear-heads crashed onto the smoky chains with a resounding bang, she followed them, punching the weakened cocoon with her enhanced arm, causing them to crack and fade away, to reveal… nothing?

Her eyes were just widening with the realization when from below her came the cry, "_Earth Release: Terrestrial Incarceration!"_

Flowing columns of earth wrapped around her, tightening around her and binding her hands to her sides. She was wrapped up like a mummy in pillars of mud, one end which was still held by her opponent, before she felt nausea as she began spinning around. She was moving around faster, and faster, and the surroundings were blurring and she was going to puke…

She felt herself get flung away, like a cannonball, but with her still neatly wrapped in ribbons of earth, she knew her landing was going to be hard. Then the earth was torn away, and she was held up by someone familiar. "Kaeru?"

And then of course, as the dolt was wont to do, he ruined the moment. "You were totally getting killed there, Hikari-chan!" he exclaimed cheerfully. Hikari gritted her teeth, but she soon realized that she was far too disorientated to care, and definitely too far out of it to resume the battle. 'If it could even be called that' Hikari thought glumly as she was handed over to Chojuro. 'That man didn't even break a sweat…'

Therefore, all she could do was silently stare at the man as Kaeru went to continue the battle in her stead, swinging that big flounder-sword of his. "Hello, Gatekeeper-san! Let us engage in glorious battle!" He held the sword in his mouth by the twin handles, and the onlookers would swear that his teeth glinted in nonexistent light.

From the corner of her eye, she could just make out Chojuro facepalming, but it was the expression on the face of her opponent that really broke her resolve. Seeing that slack-jawed, taken aback expression on the person that had led her around through the nose throughout their battle, she started laughing hysterically, ignoring the concerned look of Chojuro.

Eventually, she refocused on the battle; not a moment too soon, for Kaeru had stopped the playing around. "_Hiramekarei Release: Hammer!"_

With a resounding crash, the large blue chakra construct emanating from the sword crashed into the place that Gatekeeper had been a mere moment ago, throwing up woodchips and water from the remnants of the mangroves that had been decimated during the battles. He turned around, just in time to block a sharp edged black metal rod with Hiramekarei. Turning on his heel, he aimed a kick at the man's floating ribs, but the man used the Hiramekarei as leverage, slipping between his legs and skipping up behind him. By the time he turned around, another of those strange black rods that the man seemed to prefer using was aimed between his eyes.

Barely bringing up Hiramekarei to deflect the blow, Kaeru leapt back. Throwing Hiramekarei up into the air, he began rapidly making hand-seals, catching the dual handles of the flounder-sword in his shark-like teeth. Cupping his hand in front of his widely open mouth akin to the stance of the Great Fireball, he intoned, "_Water Release: Frog Slime!"_

A thick, pungent liquid spewed out of his mouth from between the handles, spraying the area in front of him in what seemed to be acidic slime. Cursing handily, Gatekeeper leapt back while holding his arms out in front of him in two half-seals, one rat and the other snake. "_Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"_

From the ground surrounding him, planks jutted out of the ground to form an interlocking wall. Undettered, though clearly surprised by the use of the wood release, Kaeru leapt after his own jutsu holding the Hiramekarei in an overhead strike. "_Hiramekarei Release: Hammer!"_

With a resounding bang, the wooden wall caved in, showering the attacker in wood chips and assorted debris. However, it was obvious that the creator of said wall was not in the blast radius to Kaeru, who looked around warily, blood sluggishly flowing from his cheek by a cut caused by the slivers of wood. Then suddenly, without warning, something snagged him around his ankles, pulling him into the ground while something else simultaneously knocked away the Hiramekarei, leaving him disarmed, buried from the neck below, and totally defenseless. Even as Chojuro and a weakened Hikari jumped to Kaeru's rescue, the man simply retrieved the Hiramekarei, after which he offered Kaeru a hand up.

Warily accepting the proffered hand, and the flounder-sword, Kaeru immediately leapt back into formation with the other two. The man who had introduced himself as the Gatekeeper sighed. "Seriously? If I wanted to kill you, I would have done that already!"

At the outburst, the three nin lowered their weapons sheepishly, though they still did not step out of formation. "Come on, make yourself at home. This talk is going to take some time."

He proceeded to leap across to the outskirts of the destroyed area, settling down comfortably on a mangrove as he beckoned the others to follow. "The only reason why I fought with you in the first place is to show your leader that we are not weak."

Hikari picked up on the phrasing of that particular sentence. Tilting her head, she regarded the nin with barely disguised mistrust. "So, does that mean that you're threatening us?"

The man, to her annoyance, seemed almost horrified by the accusation. "Hey! I would never do that! Anyway I hear Mei is a _very_ hot-blooded woman, and I don't fancy her trying to melt me… 'terasu does that enough, not to mention Akane…" A depressed aura flared around him, and he started mumbling. "Why do I have so many violent women in my life, why, _WHY!" _

By now he had degenerated to rocking back and forth, hugging his knees and sobbing. The three ninja sweatdropped. This was the ninja that had beaten them without even trying?

Finally Hikari had had enough. "_Will_ you stop horsing around and tell me why you felt the need to manhandle us, and don't bother telling us it wasn't premeditated, this is the only time we are not expected back within a set time."

When they turned back to the Gatekeeper, Chojuro and Kaeru blinked, unsure as to what they were seeing. The man was completely back to normal, with no evidence of the breakdown he had gone through only a few seconds ago.

And then he grinned. "Well you caught me. And don't worry about your fellow rebels; they're safely on their way to your base camp. After all, now that the Kagami front is no longer a problem, you can allocate your forces to here you truly need them, ne?"

The three blinked at him in unison. A moment later, Kaeru was holding back an enraged Hikari that was doing her best to rip the Gatekeeper to shreds. Though, he mused as he took in Kaeru's icy glare, and Chojuro's trembling fists, they were not on his side either.

The tense silence was cut by a venomous voice. "Where. Are. They."

Looking at Kaeru, whose face was twisting in fury, he decided that it would probably be best if he told them. "Calm down." The sudden commanding tone in his voice caught the attention of the angry nin. "Your comrades are just fine, - Oh, crap!"

The air was rent by a sudden explosion. With an impressive sound, a massive fork of lightning forked from the ground into the formerly cloudless sky, which was agitated, with thick clouds scattered and rumbling with electrical charges.

"What's going on?" Chojuro yelled over the sound of the wind.

"I don't know!" Kaeru yelled back, before peering at the Gatekeeper wearily. "One of your friends?"

The Gatekeeper was scratching the back of his sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that." When the others tried to get him to elaborate however, he pretended to be oblivious. "That was Salamander dying, by the way."

"What!"

"How would you even know that?" The skeptical voice of Hikari asked.

The Gatekeeper simply gave them a small smirk. "I have my ways."

The others gave him an unimpressed look, causing him to wave his hands as if to ward them off. "Alright, alright! That's my friend Reaper's attack, and seeing as he does that only when he has a sure shot, that marks the eradication of all loyalist shinobi in Kagami Island. Congratulations!"

The looks on the rebels' faces looked pretty amusing, he decided, as he watched their reactions to being blindsided by information yet again. Their expressions had clearly crossed over incredulousness into the realm of shocked disbelief. After all, they had held the frontlines in here for over two years, unable to break the line or liberate Kagami Island.

Hikari was the first to speak. "So what are you going to do to us?" Kaeru and Chojuro stared at her, surprised. "Oh, don't even bother. We're as good as prisoners here, and if this buffoon could cut us down systematically like that, I don't want to imagine what his friends can do."

Gatekeeper laughed. "Me, keep you prisoner? Oh, that's priceless." He turned to stare into Hikari. "No, we'll just be deporting you to your base, like we did to all your comrades. Sounds fun, huh?"

"You can't be serious! Mei-sama would kill us!" Chojuro exclaimed in horror.

"Well, that wouldn't be my problem, would it? Anyway, get ready, your ride's here."

The area was illuminated by a flash of bright yellow light, revealing...

"The Fourth Hokage! You're supposed to be dead!"

At Kaeru's exclamation, Hikari sucked in a surprised breath. Indeed, now that Kaeru had called him out it was obvious that these features belonged to the man who was widely regarded as the most charismatic, and one of the most famous Kages.

The man in question blinked. "Uh… Hello?"

"Wow. That was so eloquent, _Father_." The Gatekeeper deadpanned.

"Father?" Kaeru enquired, puzzled.

"Sorry, no questions, got to rush." With another flash, he had gripped all three freaked out nin around the waist.

The last thing the chuckling Gatekeeper heard before they vanished was Hikari's terrified yell.

**A.N. **And that is that! Anyway, here it is, the index of divine/ important characters included in the story.

**Shinigami – Death God/ Reaper. In charge of the ferrying of souls from the living realms to the underworld, this is one of the only gods who can travel across realms with impunity.**

**Izanami – Goddess of Creation and Death, Estranged Wife of Izanagi. Takes the form of a rotting corpse of a woman, and is in charge of souls that reach the underworld.**

**Izanagi – God of Creation and Life, Estranged Husband of Izanami. Taking the form of a powerfully muscled man, he is in charge of the living realms.**

**Shukaku – Demonic Sand Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Insanity and the elements of Earth and Wind.**

**Matatabi – Demonic Cat Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Lust and the elements of Fire and Lightning.**

**Isobu – Demonic Turtle Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Sloth and the element of Water.**

**Son Goku – Demonic Ape Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Arrogance and the elements of Fire and Earth.**

**Kokuo - Demonic Dolphin Horse Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Obsession and the elements of Fire and Wind.**

**Saiken – Demonic Slug Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Sadness and the elements of Wind and Water.**

**Chomei – Demonic Beetle Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Vanity and the elements of Wind and Lightning.**

**Gyuki – Demonic Octopus Ox Sprit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Envy and the elements of Earth, Lightning and Water.**

**Kurama – Demonic Fox Spirit, partial deity of Juubi. Incarnation of Hatred and the elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning. Researcher into divine abilities and accomplished healer.**

**Summons – Groups of beings of demonic descent pledged to help the Human race.**

**Inari – God of Foxes, Industry and Success, he is also the patron of the Kitsune Clan of Summons.**

**Uzume – Goddess of Happiness and Revelry.**

**Yamata no Orochi – Eight headed Snake Demon that was defeated by Susano'o in order to protect Kushinada-Hime.**

**Kushinada – Princess of the Uzumaki clan that was abducted by the Yamata no Orochi. Wife of Susano'o.**

**Susano'o – God of Storms, and brother of Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi. He is an ancestor of the Uzumaki clan and the source of the Chakra chain ability. He was also a close friend of Kurama and a deity pledged to the protection of the Human Realm. Deceased.**

**Preta – Realm of beings suffering from extreme unquenchable hunger and thirst.**

**Amaterasu – Goddess of Light and the Sun, sister of Tsukiyomi and Susano'o. Friendly childlike goddess with occasional bouts of violent mood shifts, she is a goddess that is often visiting Naruto.**

**Tsukiyomi – God of the Dark and the Moon, brother of Amaterasu and Susano'o.**

**NE – Rogue group of Shinobi answering to Shimura Danzo.**

**Orochimaru – Missing nin from Konoha, Scientist and Researcher, he fled Konoha eveding arrest upon the discovery of inhuman experiments done on kidnapped Konoha citizens.**

**Sasori – Missing nin from Suna. Renowned puppeteer, he defected from Suna at the End of the Third Shinobi War, and was instrumental in initiating it.**

**Hidan – Missing nin of Yu. Known for his supposed aimmortality, being able to survive deadly wounds with no complications.**

**Zabuza – Missing nin of Kiri. Defecting at the beginning of the civil war after an attempted coup, he is best known for the massacre he conducted at the age of ten, when he murdered a group of academy students. He wields the Kubikiribocho.**

**Kisame – Missing nin of Kiri, he is known for his ruthlessness and the joy he takes in killing, as well as his enormous chakra reserves and the Samehada.**

**Raiga – Missing nin of Kiri. Wielder of the Kiba.**

**Kurohana – A legendary Iwa kunoichi known for her manipulation of granite, she deserted Iwa in the final stages of the Third Shinobi War following the Tsuchikage's refusal to let her meet Minato Namikaze in battle.**

**Kohaku – Once regarded as a prodigy in Kumo, this shinobi rose to notoriety in the aftermath of the Third Shinobi War when he massacred a squad of Kumo's BOLT officers, escaping Kumo with an undisclosed national treasure.**

**Tsunade – Medic of the Sannin of Konoha and Head of the Senju Clan. **

**Utakata – Wandering shinobi with no affiliation, he is generally known for his hatred of the Hunter nin squads.**

**Han – Misanthropic Jinchuuriki of Iwa, he has not been seen in civilization for over a decade.**

**Kuromaru – Legendary weapon designer and shinobi, he is listed as AWOL in the Kiri Shinobi Register.**

**Ryuu – Known for his flight abilities and his esoteric kinjutsu, this reclusive shinobi is rarely seen.**

**Paths of the ****_Rinnegan_**** – Abilities unique to the doujutsu, which are fashioned after the Realms.**

**Chochinbi – Demonic flames, akin to will-o-wisps.**

**Yata no Kagami – Divine mirror of Amaterasu.**

**Heikegani – A type of crab with a facsimile of a human face on its shell.**

**Aokaki – Blue Persimmon**

**Kaeru – Frog**


	10. The Setting of the Stage

**A.N. **Whew! That was a hard chapter! Anyway, here is the tenth chapter of the Prince of Souls! The preparations for the battle for Kirigakure, unveiling of more of Naruto's plans, and the first divine antagonist!

On another note… Review, review, review! My muse subsists on a diet of reviews, favourites and follows, and it is currently starving. It is so desperate it will even eat flames, though they are known to cause indigestion.

And with that declaration by the World Society for the Protection of Muse'…

_Disclaimer: I abhorrently reject any culpability in the plane crash that Naruto Shippuden has become. That responsibility belongs to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Chapter 10 : The Setting of the Stage_

The redhead hurried through the mass of shinobi crowding the entrance to a large tent. As she stalked forward, the crowd before her was neatly parting, showing expressions of concern and awe; this was usual. What was not usual, but sadly not as unusual as her assistant hoped, was the flashing eyes, orange tinted mouth, and the tendrils of smoke escaping from between her lips as she continued muttering to herself. Therefore today, the expressions of those parting around her were tinged with pity, for no one escaped incurring the wrath of Terumi Mei unscathed.

Of course, she had noticed the looks of pity. She knew that she, though relatively young to be elected the Leader of the Bloodline Rebels, was often treated by her subordinates much the way she expected one would interact with a dragon. Of course this was partly her own fault; since her adolescence she had cultivated a persona of being unapproachable. Not that she hated her persona, far from it. It was her secret pleasure to pretend to freak out, watching her subordinates, mostly Ao, run around in circles to appease her.

Reaching the tent, she pushed aside the flap to see that the council had already gathered to discuss the current issue, the crisis of Kagami Island. Mei sighed; this was _not_ going to be enjoyable.

The reason for the emergency meeting was what had the entire camp in a buzz; a few minutes ago, the outer patrol around the camp had found a mountain of bodies carefully stacked in the centre of a footpath. Upon inspection, it had turned out to be the entire force stationed at Kagami Island with the exception of the Captain of the camp, the Second-in-Command and an eight year old genin, all unconscious, alive and with no identifiable ailment.

Then, a few minutes later, an enormous chakra wave had emanated from the direction of Kagami Island, and a strange weather phenomenon that was undoubtedly jutsu induced had become visible over the horizon, before fading of to nothingness.

Of course, this had sparked panic in the camp. Along with worry over the unconscious shinobi, the missing swordsmen and the heir to the Hozuki clan, not to mention the Hiramekarei, being the leader of the camp was _not_ something to envy.

Just as she expected, as soon as she took her seat, anxious voices started making their opinions known.

"Mei-sama, when are we invading Kagami?"

"Mei-san, we cannot let this pass, have you found how they know our base?"

"Mei-sama, who was it that attacked them?"

"Mei-sama, is there any information on the Hiramekarei?"

"Mei-sama, is there any news on Kaeru-sama or Hikari-sama?"

"Nice to meet you, Mei-san."

The result was instantaneous. At the unexpected voice, all the shinobi gathered immediately jumped away from the table, facing the intruder. Mei herself whirled around, reflexively throwing her chair at the source of the voice, which was revealed to be a group of four, of which three were currently in the process of emptying the contents of their stomachs.

The one who was standing, a tall thin man in a flamboyant white coat and spiky blonde hair quickly ducked underneath the chair and straightened with a mischievous smirk. "That was certainly a unique greeting, Mei-san." He grinned.

Mei frowned; sure that she knew this particular man. "Who are you, and how did you and your companions infiltrate this meeting?"

Minato opened his mouth to speak, when a hoarse voice of one of the kneeling intruders interrupted him. "You bastard! If you ever do that again I'm going to shove one of your bloody tri-kunai up your own arse!"

The speaker struggled to stand while leaning on the Hiramekarei, looking up to reveal the bruised face of Kaeru. "Uhh… Well this is awkward," he quipped, turning to stare at the flabbergasted council, "Hello Mei-hime!"

"Good afternoon, Kaeru-san." The tone sent a shiver up the collective spines of the assembled council. "Care to explain what exactly is going on?"

"That would be my cue." Minato interjected.

"And who would you be?" Mei inquired in return frigidly.

"W-Who am I?" Minato stuttered, before laughing sheepishly. "Sorry. I forgot that the world seemed to have forgotten me in the few years I've been gone."

Mei narrowed her eyes, a tendril of smoke escaping from her glowing mouth. "I advice you not to play games with us. The face you don belongs to a dead man."

"Ah, about that…" Minato scratched the back of his head. "I got better?"

Ao, who had been standing behind Mei until now came forward, gingerly stepping around the literally steaming kunoichi, one hand covering the eye that was not covered by the eye-patch. "Um… Mei-sama? That man is who he claims to be, I recognize the chakra."

This declaration sent a ripple through the shinobi gathered, but Mei did not look any more appeased. "In that case, is Konoha accepting responsibility for an attack on Kiri shinobi on Kiri soil?"

In response, Minato simply pointed to his forehead protector, which held Konoha's Leaf Insignia with a rough slash going through it. "As you can see, I'm no longer part of the Leaf Village Forces." He stated simply. "However," he added as Mei made to interrupt him, "I did not come to discuss my continued existence. I came to explain what went on in the Island of Kagami earlier today." Minato declared.

He was poised to continue, when he was interrupted, this time by Hikari who had also gotten onto her feet, cradling an unconscious Chojuro. "Greetings, Mei-sama." She droned, a bit woozy due to the effects of the _Hiraishin_.

At her voice, Mei's attention switched back to the battered trio that was standing behind the Namikaze. Turning towards them, she gestured outside the tent. "You three get some rest. You will be debriefed in four hours." Turning back to Minato, she continued in a clipped voice, "And you tell us what you have to and then disappear, unless you want to see how your _Hiraishin_ saves you from being melted."

Minato smirked arrogantly. "Well, it seems I've outstayed my welcome. I just wanted to deliver a message from our leader."

"Leader?" Mei interjected.

"Ah, yes. The Leader of the Order of Susano'o has declared the Island of Kagami a land under the order's stewardship, until the priestess' of Amaterasu return to the Yata no Kagami shrine on the island. In their absence, Kagami Island has been declared a no fighting zone, to be enforced immediately. In appreciation for your efforts to end prejudice, none of your shinobi have been harmed; all active loyalists have already been killed and disposed of. That said, the Order of Susano'o urges you to note that while they will not bring the fight beyond his borders, any insertion of shinobi into the Island will be regarded as hostile and be dealt with accordingly. As of now, Kagami Island has officially declared itself free of any and all dominion to the Land of Water and Kirigakure, and has officially closed its borders. Yagura and the Daimyo will be receiving their own notifications soon."

With that, Minato carefully reached into his supplies pouch, before taking an ornate scroll which he passed to the dumbstruck kunoichi. Then he suddenly went stiff, closing his eyes as he did so while Ao gasped. "God… Those piercings…"

When he suddenly opened his eyes again, Mei was sure she'd seen a flash of purple in the eyes that were now a clear blue.

"Mmm. That is strange…" Minato murmured under his breath. "Leader also would like me to present you with this." He stated as he reached back into his supply pouch, this time taking out a plain black scroll that was the standard corpse storage sealing scrolls used by the hunter nin. "This contains the corpse of the commander of the loyalist forces on the Island, who went by the pseudonym of Salamander. Finally, our Leader wishes you'll the best of luck in your endeavors; if at any point in the future you desire an audience with the Order, please use the summoning tri-kunai that I have placed in the first scroll. Have a good day."

Having delivered the message, Minato disappeared in a flash of yellow light.

For a moment, every person in the meeting simply stared at the place that Minato had occupied, stunned by what had been said, while Mei blinked as she looked at the scrolls that she held in her hands. Then Mei groaned, holding her head in her hands. "God damn it… Why does this sort of thing always happen to me…"

Snapping back into Kage mode, she started out barking orders at the ninja surrounding her. "Ao, I want this scroll taken to the head of our forensic department, ASAP. Afterwards, call an emergency jounin meeting; we need to know what can be identified about the members of this organization. Tell the intelligence department to debrief all personnel stationed at Kagami Island; I want a file on all known members of this Order of Susano'o on my desk, and I want it now! This is going to play havoc with my plans, I just know it… Yagura wouldn't take this lying down, and the Daimyo might actually support him over this!" Mei continued to mutter, pacing around the tent, until she caught sight of the stupefied expressions of the crowd. "Well. What are you waiting for?"

…

…

…

Daisuke woke up to the soft pitter-patter of tatami sandals on a wooden floor. The first thing he noticed was the absence of the pain, apparently he had been healed when he had been unconscious. Trying to open his eyes, he found that he was blindfolded. From the feel of the material under him, he was lying on said wooden floor, and he was secured down. Flexing his chakra proved to be an exercise in futility; whoever had secured him had done an excellent job. Therefore, he was hardly surprised when the person approaching him hauled him unceremoniously over their shoulder.

Testing it, and being half surprised to not find himself gagged, he tried to subtly interrogate his captor. "Uh… Where are you taking me?"

A monotone voice of what he guessed to be a girl answered him. "Please do not waste your breath. I do not want the extra trouble of securing a gag. Besides," she added in a strangely pleased tone, "you'll probably need it soon."

The ominous tone silenced Daisuke for a while as he was being carried, as he evaluated his chances. Daisuke was no fool. If Salamander had been crushed like a bug in the open, then that probably meant that the whole force was dead, and if that was the case, keeping his squad alive was probably for a far more sinister purpose than that of ransoming them or even torturing them. In fact, if he was right his squad had been specifically targeted, and that worried him. There was a saying among the shinobi populace that 'the unknown kills, if you're lucky'. Daisuke was feeling this rather acutely, seeing as he was completely out of his depth in regards to a possible reason for his squad's capture.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when the person carrying him paused. The soft rhythmic knocking was answered by a young sounding voice calling out, "Bring him in, Haku."

"Thank you, Naruto-sama."

The door opened, and then Daisuke was lowered to the ground, and then his blindfold was removed. Blinking in the light, he found that he was in a modest room made entirely out of wood, most with ornate carvings on them. At the centre of the room was an enormous desk, and on it was a map of the elemental nations with several pins made of a strange dark metal attached to specific points in the map. Indeed, the many regional maps adorning the walls also had corresponding pins marking their positions, though they led to large dossiers, no doubt containing information on whatever the pins represented. Peering at the maps, he could just make out that the pins seemed to be concentrated on certain points, such as Konoha, Kiri, and to a lesser extent in Harbour Town, the Capital of Water Country and Ember City, the Seat of the Fire Daimyo.

However, his attention was soon transferred to the person behind the desk. All that could be seen, for they had their head down while perusing the map, was that the man had blond hair of an incredibly bright shade, and that he was short, exceedingly so. In fact, if he had not seen Yagura or the pictures of the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, he would have considered the man before him to be less than ten years old.

Haku, who turned out to be a pre-teen girl with dark hair and dark eyes wearing an ornate pink kimono, delicately cleared her throat. "Ahem."

There was no response from Naruto, who continued to pour over the maps, muttering unrelated things constantly. "…Yes, Hiro, Operation Puppet is a go… Fubuki, you better make four new avatars… yes, have them pretend to be your family, that should divert the snooper's attention… remember, that's only the backup plan, if you use it now, it could be detrimental later…"

"Ahem." More insistently this time, the sound emitted by a small girl in a flowery kimono almost brought an amused grin to Daisuke's face, if it wasn't getting even clearer that he was probably not going to emerge from wherever he was alive. After all, a commander wouldn't allow someone they planned to release into the map room.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at Haku, startled. Daisuke noticed that the young man sitting in the seat had his blond hair which was curiously fur-like falling in locks to cover most of his eyes, which were a metallic purple with concentric rings of black, and curious whisker markings on his cheeks, likely some clan marking. The gaze slid from the girl to the resigned form of the mist shinobi, and his eyes widened in understanding. "Just give me a second…"

With that he resumed his muttering, touching each of the metallic pins in turn. During this time the girl continued to stand at attention, while Daisuke stared at the boy, trying to remember what his features reminded him of.

Finally finished with whatever he had been doing, Naruto slowly got up from his seat and pressed his palm to the wooden table. With a groan, the wood making up the table began to grow and warp, twisting around itself elongating, slowly wrapping up the metal studded map in a wooden cocoon until all that remained of the table were two wooden pillars on either side of the room. Then, slowly, Naruto stalked up to Daisuke, who to be honest with himself was feeling a bit intimidated. He supposed it was the metallic eyes, though the cruel tilt of his mouth and the predatory gait might also have contributed.

"Hello Daisuke. I have to say, it _is_ nice to see you again. You are quite the unique shinobi, aren't you? Unique indeed…"

Daisuke stared back at the strange boy. Naruto's eyes lit up. "Oh. You don't remember? How precious. He really does good work…"

Daisuke tossed his hair out of his eyes, intent on not showing the confusion that the comments caused. "Daisuke Shirotori, Jounin, No. 15462. This kidnap and murder of our people will not go unnoticed, and when Yagura-sama finds out, he will kill all of you."

Naruto laughed. "I know that Yagura will at least try. In fact, I sent him a nice little present, all wrapped up with a bow. I wouldn't be surprised if he arrives within the week, with the main body of your forces."

'Just who is this guy,' Daisuke thought as his face grew ashen, 'He doesn't even seem concerned by the fact that an enraged jinchuuriki could be on his doorstep!'

"And anyway," Naruto continued, "We never kidnapped any of Mist's forces." Seeing the look of rage of Daisuke's face, he continued, "Well, your team is dead already, and as for you, well, you're not exactly a shinobi of the Mist, are you?"

"How dare you! I – "

He was interrupted in his tirade when Naruto burst out laughing. "Sorry about that, I forgot that you don't remember." He placed his hand on Daisuke's forehead, and as he tried to flinch away from the hand Daisuke was suddenly feeling that he was in the grasp of a bigger monster than even Yagura could ever hope to be. "Haku, hold him upright for a moment. It seems the process will have some complications."

"Yes, Naruto-sama."

Walking back to an empty area of the room, Naruto almost absentmindedly formed some seals, followed by slamming his hand to the floor. "_Summoning!"_

Puffs of smoke erupted around him, blowing away to reveal several human silhouettes surrounding him. The first stepped forward to reveal the face of the Yondaime look-alike that had defeated him. Of all the figures, Naruto seemed to greet only him, with a curt, "Hello, Dad."

When all the figures came forward, it was all Daisuke could do not to gasp out loud. For in the group following Naruto was the deceased Second Mizukage, First Hokage and Second Hokage, who Daisuke realized was the one who had fought Salamander. There was no possible way for them to be alive, therefore the only way for them to be here was…

"So you're a Suna puppeteer, and all those _things_ are puppets."

Naruto laughed, along with the Yondaime look-alike. "No, my dear little spy, not at all. Though it is a little strange that your mind jumped to puppets so easily, isn't it?"

'Spy?' he thought incredulously. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Naruto ignored him as he turned back to the man he had called dad. "Come on dad, I need all of you to stabilize the connection while I dive in."

"Naruto, I still don't think this is a very good idea…"

"Why not? Using his body means that I have hardly any changes to make."

"Still…"

"Dad." Naruto's voice was stern. "I know what I'm doing. You told me the same things in the last meeting, I answered them all, so now I expect you to help. Please." He added at Minato's unimpressed face.

Minato sighed. "The things I do for you…"

Daisuke was staring, mystified by the strange conversation. However, it was obvious that whatever it was that they were planning it was not going to be fun for him. Therefore he started to struggle in his bonds as the men positioned themselves around him, with the Nidaime Hokage in front of him, the Shodaime Hokage to his left, the Nidaime Mizukage to his right and Naruto behind him. Haku slapped a paralysis seal on his back and stepped outside the ring as the Nidaime Hokage placed one palm on Naruto's head and the other on Daisuke. Meanwhile, Naruto had placed one hand behind Daisuke's head, while the ones at the sides had each placed a hand on the Nidaime Hokage's head.

Then the Nidaime Hokage and Naruto exclaimed in unison, "_Human Path: Soul Subjugation Scent Trail Reversal!"_

It was as if a parasite had invaded his mind. An increasing itch, rooting around his brain that was irritating his nerves, until it suddenly stopped when the itch met something.

His world exploded as long buried memories came to the forefront of his mind in a tsunami of memories and experiences of another life. He was just reveling in his new memories however, when he felt his energy get sapped away, as if eaten away by the foreign presence in his head. His eyes snapped open to see that he was getting emaciated in front of his eyes, and he could feel himself scream as his conscious was getting propelled along an unseen plane far from his body. The white nothingness gave way to reveal a glimpse of desert landscape before death closed around him.

Miles away, in the great deserts of Wind Country, Sasori of the Red Sands opened his eyes with a start.

…

…

…

Haku watched the process carefully, wincing as the once alive man slowly mummified. "Minato-sama , what does that do?"

Watching the mummified corpse of what had once been a Mist shinobi, it was all Minato could do not to wince. "It attacks any mind control jutsu affecting the victim, and using the victim's own chakra as fuel, reverses the jutsu in such a way that the original castor falls under our control. And on that note…Uhh… Haku, can you clean this up, please?"

Haku nodded mutely, giving Minato a slight smile as he passed. He knew what was going to happen; it had played out every day for the two months that she had lived in the Water Country Base of the Order of Susano'o, and it looked like it was going to continue today. He smiled; Naruto-sama would overwork himself, his father would whine and threaten him to come out, Naruto-sama would ignore him, Minato would drop Amaterasu-sama's name, Naruto-sama would grumble before coming out of his study to eat with the others. It was a small domestic drama that played out regularly, and yet another reason he was grateful to Naruto-sama and his father for including him in.

As Haku carried the corpse out of the room, Minato sighed despondently. "Naruto, you've been working too hard; I don't think you've slept in a week! Take some rest."

Naruto did not turn towards him, still concentrating on his jutsu, his hands in a ram seal. "Uh-huh…"

"Stop ignoring me!" Minato said exasperated, "or I'll call Amaterasu."

Naruto looked up in shock, a betrayed look on his face. "You wouldn't!"

Minato crossed his hands in front of him. "Try me."

"But – But – Come on!"

"No buts." Minato said sternly, "You are going to eat dinner with the others, and you are going to like it!"

"No fair." Naruto moaned, "You can't 'terasu-chan to win your arguments. That's cheating!"

Minato looked at Naruto as if he had lost his mind. "We're ninja." He deadpanned.

"Still…"

"I told you, no buts." Minato proceeded to drag Naruto by his ear towards the dining hall. Returning from his errand, Haku paused to watch the scene, a contented smile on his lips.

'Yes,' He thought to himself as he entered the living quarters of the large base, 'It really does feel like a family.' Smiling, he headed towards the dining room himself, only to pause in shock at the sight before him.

A bulldog sized Kurama was skipping around on his hindlegs, twirling a pink polka-dot umbrella that Haku was pretty sure was not from the base.

"Raaaain drops keep faaaaling on my head! They keeeeeeep faaaaalling!"

Haku blinked twice rapidly as if trying to stop hallucinating, quickly following with a Ram-seal and a quick 'Kai!'

The mystery was solved when Kurama skipped past his frozen figure, leaving the distinct musk of sake. Haku was quick to comprehend what had happened.

A moment later, a yell reverberated across the base as Haku ran after an inebriated Kurama.

"Damn it Amaterasu-sama, I told you not to give him alcohol!"

…

…

…

The dining room at the Kagami Island Base was what it normally was; noisy, chaotic and lively. The room had a low slung ceiling, and contrary to the seal-powered lighting in the other rooms, was lighted by shaded candles at Naruto's whim. The room itself was circular, with a large centre table filled with various platters of food, and a continuous bench running around the wall of the room in which the people sat. Currently, the room was relatively crowded; on one side of the room, Naruto, Kurama and Amaterasu were in a deep discussion, while a short distance away Haku was quietly eating dinner. Across from her sat a visiting Akane who was chatting with Minato who had picked her up from Konoha, while a short distance away sat a mysterious figure with a cowl over their face. The person, who was male judging by the stature, was tall and thin, and the lower parts of the face that could be seen through the cowl were wrapped in bandages. This was the person that intrigued Haku at the moment, especially as the man was a newcomer to the base. Naruto's Outer Path, who was in the body of the Shodaime Hokage had brought him in, simply introducing him as a new member of the Order. The man had then proceeded to blow off all questions directed at him, and was currently sitting by himself skipping dinner in order to polish his strange, cleaver like zanbatou.

Coming to a decision, Haku got up from his position, shadowing over the wooden floor towards the strange man, who showed no signs of recognition as he neared. Haku slowly took a seat near the man, not close enough to be considered intrusive but close enough that the man would notice him.

The man paused in his polishing, setting down the cloth to pick up the bottle of sake beside him. Tearing off the bandages surrounding his mouth, and showing off a hint of sharpened teeth in the process, he proceeded to empty the bottle of sake while insistently snubbing Haku. 'Mist nin', Haku thought, 'with an overlarge blade. Probably someone with a connection to the Seven Swordsmen…"

A gruff voice interrupted her thoughts. "Are you going to stare all day, miss, or are you going to ask what you want and get out of here?"

Haku smiled to himself. "I'm sorry about that. I was just wondering how you are connected to the Seven Swordsmen?"

The man scoffed. "The Seven Swordsmen are dead." He started polishing the spotless sword again. "Now all that's left are some disillusioned men with big dreams, bigger regrets and more blood on their hands than any one man can handle."

'Ah-hah. So this is one of the swordsmen itself. Interesting…"

"Is that why you're cleaning a clean sword? Too much blood?"

The man abruptly turned towards him, a look of quiet desperation in his face. "Don't ask questions that you are not prepared to hear the answer to." He sneered through his bandages. "You're just a kid stranded in the wrong place, girly. Kids like you who don't know how hard life can be don't belong in the shinobi business."

For the first time in the conversation, Haku bristled. He had entered the conversation knowing that he was likely to be snubbed, but that was way over the line!

"I don't know how hard life can be? I killed my own father when I was 8 years old, when he killed my mother and tried to kill me! I've been living in the streets of Kirigakure for over a year! I think I know how hard life is! "

For the first time during the short conversation, he seemed almost impressed. "8, huh? You've got me beat there, kid." He paused to look at him with an almost inquisitive gaze in his clouded eyes that he could barely make out through the cowl. "I had my first kill when I was 9."

He laughed a little. "Though I bet you've never killed 71 academy brats in one go."

Even as Haku flinched at that, he found a retort on his lips almost effortlessly. "No, only 26 villagers, but then we can't all choose our targets, can we?"

Zabuza was laughing at his reply, when Haku remembered a long forgotten scrap of gossip that he had heard while living in the streets of Kirigakure. "Wait a second," he looked at the stranger in dawning realization, as he reflexively retreated into his cowl at his apparent recognition. "Only one person is known to have killed so many academy students. You're Momochi Zabuza!"

The stranger sighed, lowering his cowl to reveal a crow's nest of black hair encircled by a Kiri headband that sat askew on his head, and a young looking face with a narrow jaw line that was covered in surgical bandages. His coal black eyes narrowed at Haku with sudden intensity. "Yes I am." He confirmed, "What of it? Are you going to scream monster like the other people do?"

Haku's eyes softened in understanding. "No." Hesitantly, he placed one hand on Zabuza's gloved hands, unsure if the man would shake him off. Zabuza just looked at him, quietly observing. "For one called a monster to call another such would be hypocritical, would it not?"

"Ah." Zabuza exclaimed, as if it explained everything. "Bloodline?"

"Hyouton." Haku confirmed, calling up his chakra, as wind swiveled around his arm, forming a small figurine of Zabuza as he stood, stooped over his sword with his cowl hanging behind his shoulders.

"Here." He presented it to Zabuza, who took it, an attempt at a scowl flashing around his eyes. "Don't think this makes us friends, girly."

"Of course not, Zabuza-san." Haku said easily, getting up to move back to his previous position. "However it doesn't make us not friends either, does it?"

As Zabuza blinked at that proclamation, Haku turned back once again on her way to Naruto. "And by the way, Zabuza-san, I'm a boy."

Catching a glimpse of Zabuza's popping eyes and slack jaw, Haku laughed gaily as he walked back to the main group.

…

…

…

Night really was the best time of the day, Naruto thought as he hung upside down on the rafters in the porch of an opulent house, looking at the setting sun across the water. The house in question belonged to the Water Daimyo, being one of his many retreats.

The current Water Daimyo was a somewhat notorious character among the nobles of the Elemental Nations. Originally only the sixth in line to the Water Country Throne, through a series of assassinations, disease and unfortunate accidents he had soon been ushered in as the new Daimyo by a struggling nation. Originally a samurai and a local land owner, the man was widely considered stern, cruel and eccentric. He was known to take perverse pleasure in the shinobi struggles in his land, meanwhile securing his own capital from ninja influence. To be found out as an active ninja within the walls of his city was considered a capital crime, as was aiding shinobi in any way. However he often funded both factions of the civil war, and it was rumored that he had a special room in his castle that had the current positions of all shinobi cells. Which he spent hours watching and plotting in. In addition to the rumors of warmongering and abstract cruelty, he was also rumored to have had a hand in the killings of his predecessors, and especially the death of the original Daimyo who was killed by the famous missing nin Hoshigaki Kisame just before the outbreak of war.

The last reason for his notoriety was his well known womanizing behaviour. After his inauguration as the water Daimyo, it was quite common for him to take a woman of the court he found attractive and retire with her to one of the many castles and bungalows that he owned.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as voices drifted down the garden.

Two figures were coming up the garden path. One was a woman, with blonde hair in an elaborate plait, and an extremely revealing gown. She was leaning on the man's arm, laughing at a joke the man had just made.

The Daimyo was distinguished looking, with short grizzled hair and a black moustache. He was wearing a burnt orange kimono, and he had a sheathed katana hanging at his side. His deep blue eyes were periodically searching the area, and he seemed spooked.

Naruto cursed under his breath; he should have expected the Daimyo to notice his involuntary chakra pulses, what with him being a samurai. Still, even without the element of surprise this was one of the better scenarios for this confrontation, as the Daimyo, in a strange fit of self-importance, had barred any of his imperial guards from the premises, stating that he could protect himself. This left him with only one samurai and a civilian woman to subdue, and as the guards were all at least 5 minutes away, he still had more than enough time if an alarm managed to be raised.

Oh well. Time to let the games begin.

Just as he vaulted off the roof into the couple, the Daimyo pushed the woman away as he drew his sword. "_Quick Draw: Heavenly Splitter!"_

…

…

…

He barely had a moment to consider his position. One moment his senses had been screaming at him about a hidden presence in his vicinity, and the next one of those repulsive shinobi had appeared in front of him. As the glint of a metal weapon coming down on him met his vision, a lifetime of wartime reflexes took over. He was faintly aware that he had pushed the woman behind him, even as he unsheathed his sword in the iconic style of the samurai of Smelt Mountain, where he had apprenticed.

"_Quick Draw: Heavenly Splitter!"_

The golden arc of chakra swung across the surprised shinobi, vertically bisecting him in a gory spray of blood. The two halves of the shinobi thudded to the ground, and feeling rather anticlimactic, he started sliding his katana back into its sheath, when his instincts screamed at him to dodge.

Leaping away and twisting in midair, he came face to face with the assassin. He was rather short, and dressed head to toe in black, face obscured by a black ceramic mask. He was dual wielding a strange type of weapon, which looked like circular bars of metal with one end sharpened. And he was sunk halfway into the ground, ghosting over the surface as he aimed at his Achilles tendon.

Jumping over the stab, he retreated to gain some distance from his evasive foe. Sparing a glance at the fallen shinobi, he found it missing; apparently it was a clone of some kind.

The assassin turned back, fully stepping out of the ground. "Good Afternoon, Daimyo-sama."

He cocked his head in curiosity, not wanting to show any concern to the shinobi. "My guards will be swarming this area within seconds." He bluffed offhandedly. "Did your masters tell you this is a suicidal mission?"

The assassin did not answer, instead choosing to re-engage, swiping at him in wide, continuous slashes aimed at the tender spots of his body, such as his throat, kidneys and groin.

The swipes never connected, being held off by his chakra coated katana. Then his opponent was a blur to his senses, as he was suddenly getting pummeled with the blunt metal edges of the assassin's strange weapons.

Receiving a blow to his solar plexus with a pained grunt, he attempted to increase the distance in order to escape the barrage of punishing blows.

Finally he found the time to regain his balance when one of his opponent's weapons got snagged on his kimono. Instantly capitalizing on the error his hand closed on offending weapon and its wielder's hand trapping them in a vice-like grip. With an insistent tug, the assassin was toppling towards him, off balance, as he held his katana in front of him, leaving the assassin to be impaled upon his sword.

He belatedly saw the other hand come up, a coiling snake of muscle and sinew. The next thing he knew, there was a persistent pulsing hurt in his head, and he was staring, dazed, into a pair of crimson orbs through slit openings in a pitch black mask.

Then the mask was removed, revealing a young face, marked with three horizontal lines on each tanned cheek, and topped with a mop of blond hair. The boy looked at him with a strange glint in his crimson eyes, his lips curving into a small cruel smile.

"You know," he started conversationally; "when I came here all I wanted to do was test your resolve." His smile curved, showing off sharp canines. "But you have proved to be an absolute delight. All that scheming, all that hate boiling inside your head…"

The assassin knelt by his head as he tried to move away, only to be stopped by what appeared to be earthen restraints. "Just so you know, your little scheme to let Kirigakure self-destruct might have worked, but you really chose the wrong time to do that in Kiri."

"W-Who are you, and who do you work for?"

"All you need to know is that Kiri is under divine protection, hapless mortal. Now go to non-being knowing that your body will be the receptacle that allows the Shinobi the right to rule, that your folly is what leads the Samurai cast to ruin, and that you were struck down by divine will."

Suddenly the crimson eyes shifted, swirling hypnotically, a kaleidoscope of colours blending, to reveal crimson eyes with black tribal markings running from the centre outwards, as the man in front of him suddenly became more imposing, more _solid_, for the lack of a better term.

" Farewell, Samurai. _Mangekyo: Kotoamatsukami."_

…

…

…

The barren landscape stretched as far as eye could see. The skies were a repugnant purple, the sickly trees grey and twisted, and the very soil was sulfurous, reeking of death and decay. It was also unnaturally quiet, an oppressive silence that grated on the mind.

The crack of a bone breaking under a foot ricocheted across the desolate valley, breaking the silence and prompting several vulture-like creatures to flight.

"Izanami-sama, are you sure this is a good idea? Your husband is not going to be pleased…"

The speaker was tall, exceedingly so, which contrasted wildly with his spindly stature. His bones were clearly apparent through his translucent skin, peeking out at joints and leaving a clear view of his ribs through the muscle shirt that he wore.

The recipient of this quiet rebuke chuckled coldly at that. "Come now, do you expect that coward of a husband of mine to react to a minor excursion? He will be much more occupied with fortifying the Divine realm…"

Her companion chuckled. "Of course, Izanami-sama. But if I may suggest, instead of tearing an opening into the human realm, I could possess one of my followers in order to track him down? That way your husband would never need to know."

Izanami huffed. "You _have_ to ruin my fun, don't you?"

She paused, quailing slightly under the gaze of the taller figure. "Fine. Have it your way!"

The man's mouth twisted in an expression of amusement. "Very well then. By your leave, Izanami-sama?"

The woman stepped out of the shadows, revealing a body that was a facsimile of a corpse. The face was half-rotten and addled with holes, and raven hair that showed signs of once being lustrous and well cared for hung in a straggly mess down her back, framing the back of her clothes, which looked like the ragged, half-decomposed remains of a ceremonial kimono. Amusement shined in her onyx orbs. "Go, Jashin. After all, who knows what that insolent fool Shinigami has gotten up to this time?"


End file.
